Embedded Files
A Summary of Unemployment
A Summary of Unemployment
Watch this video summarizing the economic definition of the unemployment rate and the three types of unemployment that we defined in class. You can review the lecture slides under "Business Cycles, Unemployment, and Inflation" here.
Once you have a grasp of unemployment the way we learned it in class, select one of the alternative disciplinary perspectives (sociology or psychology) and answer the reflection question.
Reflection Question: In our class, we define terms like "the labor force" and "unemployment" very specifically. Think about those definitions and the fact that we use the current unemployment rate as a metric for how well our economy is performing. Who does the unemployment rate miss? And does this affect our conclusions regarding our economic health?
Sociology
"Lena's Labor Theory"
"Lena's Labor Theory"
A podcast episode of From the Source podcast, featuring an Interview with Lena Chen, a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon and adult performer. Lena poses questions and provides insights regarding how we define "labor" and who gets missed in traditional definitions.
Listen to the 18 minute episode here: https://www.publicsource.org/podcast/lenas-labor-theory-i-s3-ep-7/
"Estranged Labor" by Marx, 1844
"Estranged Labor" by Marx, 1844
Read Marx's thoughts about how labor becomes separated from the product, and what implications this has for the workers.
Psychology
"The Psychology of Working"
"The Psychology of Working"
Listen to David Blustein discuss how work affects our human development and human experience. The perspective of this interview is how understanding labor may influence therapists and clinical psychologists in practice.
"The Meaning of Work: Lessons from Sociology, Psychology, and Political Theory"
"The Meaning of Work: Lessons from Sociology, Psychology, and Political Theory"
Journal article by Flora Gill comparing theories from different fields regarding the meaning of labor. Provides a nice summary for comparing and contrasting ideas of work across disciplines.
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