{"ModuleCode":"SE3226","ModuleTitle":"Hard at work: the changing face of labour in SEA","Department":"Southeast Asian Studies","ModuleDescription":"In this class, students are introduced to the history and ethnography of work in Southeast Asia. The class focuses on a particular country in the region depending on the instructor. Students read texts that explore the social, political, economic, cultural, and technological forces that have shaped work in the region since the 1800s. At the same time, students are introduced to the practices of ethnographic fieldwork, including observing, interviewing, writing, and editing. Students also read critically ethnographies of work from the region and the world. Students then apply these practices and insights through field research projects.","ModuleCredit":"4","Workload":"2-1-0-3-4","Types":["Module","UEM"],"Lecturers":["Gerard Sasges"],"IVLE":[{"Announcements":null,"Forums":[],"Workbins":[],"Webcasts":[],"Gradebooks":[],"Polls":[],"Multimedia":[],"LessonPlan":[],"ID":"0e7d2d67-2c2c-4fd0-aac1-59361eb258cf","CourseLevel":"1","CourseCode":"SE3226","CourseName":"HARD AT WORK: THE CHANGING FACE OF LABOUR IN SEA","CourseDepartment":"","CourseSemester":"Semester 2","CourseAcadYear":"2014/2015","CourseOpenDate":"/Date(1417104000000+0800)/","CourseOpenDate_js":"2014-11-28T00:00:00","CourseCloseDate":"/Date(1431187140000+0800)/","CourseCloseDate_js":"2015-05-09T23:59:00","CourseMC":"0","isActive":"N","Permission":"S","Creator":{"UserID":null,"Name":"Gerard Sasges","Email":null,"Title":null,"UserGuid":"f964c59a-3bb2-47c7-87ce-58bf8490f319","AccountType":null},"hasGradebookItems":false,"hasTimetableItems":true,"hasGroupsItems":false,"hasClassGroupsForSignUp":false,"hasGuestRosterItems":false,"hasClassRosterItems":true,"hasWeblinkItems":false,"hasLecturerItems":true,"hasDescriptionItems":true,"hasReadingItems":false,"hasAnnouncementItems":false,"hasProjectGroupItems":false,"hasProjectGroupsForSignUp":false,"hasConsultationItems":false,"hasConsultationSlotsForSignUp":false,"hasLessonPlanItems":false,"Badge":0,"BadgeAnnouncement":0,"WebLinks":[],"Lecturers":[{"ID":"5a6d2147-111a-43c6-a435-2c27faa0dc5e","User":{"UserID":null,"Name":"Gerard Sasges","Email":null,"Title":null,"UserGuid":"f964c59a-3bb2-47c7-87ce-58bf8490f319","AccountType":null},"Role":"Lecturer ","Order":1,"ConsultHrs":null}],"Descriptions":[{"ID":"1e5f053b-8835-4692-be49-41f07234cfff","Title":"Learning Outcomes","Description":"The study of work allows us to investigate how forces of capitalism and globalization play out in everyday lives and to see the connections that link the global to the local. This module combines ethnographic fieldwork in the spaces of Singapore with classroom discussions of themes like capitalism, globalization, labor control, class, gender, social justice, mobility, sexuality, emotion and ethnicity. The objective is to juxtapose theory with practice and to allow each of us to evaluate and understand what we learn in the classroom in terms of what we hear and see in our ethnographic work in the community.
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\nThe module has four aims. The first is to engage with the ideas, practices, and experiences of people we might not ordinarily encounter, from construction workers, cleaners and fishermen, to sex workers, bookies and security guards. Second is to think creatively about how to integrate our own experiences, backgrounds, and interests into what we’re learning about the larger world. Third is to develop our own methodologies and produce our own original ethnographic sources, including textual, visual, and aural. Last is to develop clearer understandings of the connection between everyday life, including our own, and larger processes of economic, social, and political change. ","Order":1},{"ID":"6e5f053b-8835-4692-be49-41f07234cfff","Title":"Syllabus","Description":"RESEARCH SITES
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\nI define work as the purposive production of a good or service for others. This means that just about anything fits within the scope of this project, even occupations where people aren’t explicitly working for a wage. You’ve got two choices in this module: you can either trust to fate and interview people as you find them, or you can focus on a particular “space” of work and interview people who work there. A space might be physical (e.g. a KTV bar, a Kopitiam, or a mall) or it might be more conceptual (e.g. the airline sector, the hip-hop scene, or the journey a fish takes from sea to boat to market). In this way we can gain a deeper understanding of our topic and illustrate the interconnections and relationships among the people and occupations that occupy a given space.
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\nTHE HARD AT WORK PROJECT
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\nThis project follows on from an earlier project I did with my students in Vietnam that resulted in a book, called It’s a living, published in 2013 by the NUS Press. Each week we’ll read an excerpt from It’s a living as a point of comparison for our own explorations. My intention is to use this module as the base for a similar – but even bigger and better – project on life and work in Singapore. We’ll start with a website where we’ll upload our work, build to a public website, and if all goes as planned, you’ll be a published author in a few years.
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\nREADINGS
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\nEach week features a mix of readings under the following three headings. Readings form the basis of the discussion, and we all must have read them before coming to class. I know we’re busy and I don’t expect you to read everything in depth each week. But do save at least two hours per week for the readings and use them to read strategically. At a minimum, pay attention to introductions and conclusions, section headings and topic sentences. Then think about the questions I pose below and prepare to discuss your answers when you get to class.
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\nStory: Two to four pages of an interview of a working person in Vietnam. When you’re reading, think about what you’re learning about the reality of working life and whether it confirms or complicates the ideas in the theory articles.
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\nTheory: A reading of 20 to 30 pages on some aspect of labor. When you’re reading, think about the following questions: What is the author’s thesis? What are the main points of their argument? Do you agree with the thesis? Why or why not? Are there any important terms that need to be defined? What sources do they use? If the article involved fieldwork, how did they do it and what can you learn for your own fieldwork? How can you relate the article to other readings for the week or for the course?
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\nPractice: A reading of 10 to 15 pages on some aspect of the practice of ethnography or oral history. When you’re reading, think about how you might apply it in your own fieldwork.
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\nSTEPS IN THE PROCESS
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\nObservation: The first step in the process is to observe a space of work in Singapore. Choose one of the spaces below and go there at a busy time. Find a place where you can stand or sit for at least 20 minutes. Observe using as many of your senses as possible, not just your eyes. Pay attention to the interactions of people with each other and their physical environment. Keep a “stream of consciousness” record of what you observe and how you react to your observations (try taking brief written or oral notes). Write up your notes (still in stream of consciousness form), bring them to the first tutorial, and be prepared to read a 5-minute excerpt to your classmates. 10 percent; due verbally and in hard copy in Tutorial 1.
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\nA wet market (before 10:00 AM; a good one is Tiong Bahru)
\nA fast food outlet (meal time; pick one in a community rather than a super busy one in a mall)
\nSungei Road Thieves’ Market (weekends during the day)
\nJurong Fishery Port (between 2:00 and 5:00 AM)
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\nInterviews: The second step in the process is to conduct interviews of three working people. The outcome is three interviews of from 1000 to 1500 words and including at least one non-textual element, posted on the website before Tutorials 2, 3 and 4, respectively. We’ll discuss the results and get feedback during the tutorials, and you’ll have a week to revise each one before it’s graded. 20 percent each; due by midnight on the Fridays of Week 7, 11, and 13.
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\nTheme: The final step in the process is an exploration of one of the themes or issues we’ve discussed in class, for example gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, labor control, resistance, agency, constrained choice, identity, informal economies, networks, transnationality, etc. This is your opportunity to choose a theme that’s meaningful to you and explore it creatively in your own way, whether through text, video, music, whatever. Keep it in the back of your mind as your project progresses, and you’ll have a chance to discuss it with me in an individual advising session in week 13. 20 percent; due midnight, Friday 24 April.
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\nGRADING
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\nParticipation (Classroom and Tutorial): 10%
\nObservation (Tutorial 1): 10%
\nInterview 1 (Tutorial 2): 20%
\nInterview 2 (Tutorial 3): 20%
\nInterview 3 (Tutorial 4): 20%
\nTheme (Reading Week): 20%
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\nDEADLINES AND LATE PENALTIES
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\nFirst drafts of the three interviews should be uploaded to the module website before the relevant tutorial (weeks 4, 6, and 10). Final drafts of the introduction and interviews must be uploaded by midnight Friday of the following week (weeks 7, 11, and 13, respectively). The final “theme” assignment is due midnight Friday 24 April. Late assignments will be graded down one +/- per 24-hour period after the deadline.
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\nACADEMIC DISHONESTY AND PLAGIARISM
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\nIt will be really hard to plagiarize in this class. But if you’re feeling tempted to plagiarize or engage in other forms of academic dishonesty, don’t do it: possible penalties include disciplinary action and failing the module. If you’re not sure what plagiarism or academic dishonesty are, check out the website of the Registrar’s Office at (http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/adminpolicy/acceptance.html).
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\nADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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\nTWC2 (Transient Workers Count Too) http://twc2.org.sg/
\nMinistry of Manpower labor supply statistics http://www.mom.gov.sg/Documents/statistics-publications/manpower-supply/report-labour-2011/mrsd_2011LabourForce.pdf
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\n","Order":3},{"ID":"4e5f053b-8835-4692-be49-41f07234cfff","Title":"Schedule","Description":"COURSE SCHEDULE
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\nWEEK 1: introducing the changing face of work in Southeast Asia
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\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj4A6g2GP30
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\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI9U3411uTI
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\nWalkaround 1: AS8 construction site. What different jobs are people doing? What gender, age, and ethnic dynamics do you see at work? Does the work seem dangerous? What steps do they take to minimize the danger?\n