The Economics of Work
Class | Available
February 7, 2026
Understanding the economy and examining your day-to-day and long-term social conditions and worker rights. How much power do you have as a worker in the US? Analyzing how the system works will position workers for better strategy and tactics in labor organizing. Topics will include the growth of “right to work” laws, gig work, and automation. We will also examine why the minimum wage has not kept up with the cost of living, and current attacks against prevailing wage. We will consider race, gender, immigrant status, and the impact of globalization on changing working conditions, and how resource distribution at the local, state, and national levels matters for organizing for a better future.
Emily E. LB. Twarog
Prof. Twarog earned her PhD in American History at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a master’s in Labor Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her book Politics in the Pantry: Housewives, Food, and Consumer Protest in 20th Century America examines the ways in which housewives in America used food protests as political tools to gain influence both locally and nationally. She is also the author of several articles and book chapters related to the evolution of working class women’s leadership development as well as gender violence in the workplace. She is currently writing a book on the history of sexual harassment resistance in the service sector, “Hands Off: A History of Fighting Back against Sexual Harassment in the American Workplace.” She is co-director of the Regina V. Polk Women's Leadership Programs.