MSc Labour, Activism and Development

Students are encouraged to examine critically the relationship between labour, capitalism, development and poverty. We investigate labour in the contemporary social and economic development of the Global South as well as established and emerging social movements of labour in local, national and international spaces. You will learn to identify and evaluate the relationship between collective agency, policy and vice-versa.

A virtual or physical placement in an organisation promoting collective and progressive social change will enable you to develop an understanding of how a social movement or a union deal with such issues in practice.

We work in a seminar/tutorial formats that encourage critical thinking and participation via an emphasis on the relationship between theory and practice. Programme lecturers are not just research active. We are also activists and have experience of participation in labour and social movements across the world – Latin America, Africa and Asia and Europe and have on-going contacts with such movements as well as with NGOs and international organisations. We are well-placed to work with you on applying a deep understanding of collective movements to the challenge of working in development, development-related organisations and beyond into education and corporate social responsibility at various levels and scales.