Title: The political economy of employment: a framework for a more pluralistic, real world labour economics course

Authors: Janice Peterson

Addresses: Department of Economics, California State University, Fresno, California, USA

Abstract: This paper seeks to provide a broad and flexible framework for instructors wishing to develop an issue/problem-oriented, pluralistic undergraduate labour economics course as a supplement or alternative to traditional micro-economics-based courses. This approach suggests using contemporary work on the changing structure of employment as the focusing topic of the course, setting the stage for the introduction of economic history, alternative theoretical perspectives, industry studies and descriptive statistics, the stories and experiences of individual workers, as well as experiential learning experiences. Although the specific course applications presented are focused on the US experience, this approach provides opportunities for international comparisons.

Keywords: political economy; employment; economic pluralism; labour economics; heterodox economics; institutional economics; economics education; labour market fissuring; misclassification; wage theft; USA; United States; higher education; economic history; alternative theories; industry studies; descriptive statistics; worker experiences; experiential learning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEE.2016.080305

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 2016 Vol.7 No.4, pp.413 - 425

Received: 26 Sep 2015
Accepted: 27 Mar 2016
Published online: 11 Nov 2016 *

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