Subordination and Discrimination in GSCs: Recognizing Diversity and Building Unity
- FREE
- 1h 27 min
- English
- Interdisciplinary
- with certificate upgrade option
What is the course about?
Deeply embedded in the business model of supply chains, different forms of structural discrimination – gender, race, ethnicity, age, migration status and others – intersect, pushing many women, people of colour and other disadvantaged groups to the bottom of the wage hierarchy and to more precarious jobs.
Through video lectures, reading materials and zoom workshops with top experts from academia and the labour sector, we will discuss these intersectional forms of discrimination as well as examples of resistance from across the world for work with dignity, free from discrimination and harassment.
You can watch our webinar "Intersectional discrimination in GSCs and workers' collective resistance for work with dignity", featuring featuring Prof. Martha Chen, Prof. Stephanie Barrientos and Dr. Alessandra Mezzadri.
Course structure
The course has three content chapters. Starting from the 15th of June, a new content chapter will be posted each week. After becoming fully accessible, the course will remain open for studying the course materials at your own pace.
Chapter 1: Introduction to the course
Chapter 2: Understanding multiple structural discrimination in Global Supply Chains
Chapter 3: Key regulatory measures addressing discrimination
Chapter 4: Empowering workers to challenge subordination from below
Key concepts
subordination, structural discrimination, intersectionality, global supply chains, home workers, gender equality, migration, social reproduction, ILO conventions, worker organising
Learning objectives
- At the end of the course, the participants will be able to define intersectional discrimination in global supply chains and apply the concept in various sectors.
- They will also be able to identify key regulatory measures addressing different forms of discrimination.
- Finally, the participants will be able to discuss different ways how workers an be empowered to challenge discrimination and harassments at the workplace.
What do I need to know?
This is a multi-disciplinary course drawing from social, political and economic sciences. It is at the level of a Masters’ programme, but the concepts are explained in an accessible language, so it is also possible to participate in the course using skills and knowledge acquired outside formal education.
The course requires a working level of English.
Course workload
The estimated workload is 8-10 hours per chapter if you read also the key reading for each unit.
Certificates
You can study for free and if you wish, purchase either a Certificate of Participation (after 100% course progress) or a Certificate of Accomplishment (after 100% course progress + online exam).
The GLU Online Academy provides certificate scholarships for course participants from developing countries and trade unionists from OECD countries. In addition to 100% progress, those applying for a scholarship have to meet other requirements such as responding to a number of discussion questions, attending zoom workshops with course experts and meetings with the online tutor.
More details about each certificate are provided in Chapter 1 of the course.
What our users say about the course...
Great course on discrimination in global supply chains
,,Well versed and experienced instructors and experts give lectures on a very relevant topic. Accompanying workshops provide a platform for interaction with experts for further clarification of the question."
Benjamin Velasco, Assistant Professor , University of the Philippines Diliman
Course instructors
Prof Mark Anner, Penn State University
Mark Anner is a Professor of Labor and Employment Relations, and Political Science, and he is the Director of the Center for Global Workers' Rights at Penn State University. He is also the chair of the MPS Program in Labor and Global Workers' Rights, which is a part of the Global Labour University network. He holds a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University and a Master's Degree in Latin American Studies from Stanford University. Dr. Anner's research examines freedom of association and corporate social responsibility, labor law reform and enforcement, and workers' rights in apparel global value chains in Central America and Vietnam. His publications include Solidarity Transformed: Labor Responses to Globalization and Crisis in Latin America* (Cornell University Press, 2011). Before beginning his academic career, Mark Anner spent eleven years working with labor unions and labor research centers in Central America and Brazil, and he was a union organizer in Boston.
Alessandra Mezzadri
Stephanie Barrientos
Martha Chen
Christa Wichterich
Ms Bashiratu Kamal
I am a feminist organizer, unionist and activist who believes in the total liberation of all categories of workers. My work focuses on making policies, legal frameworks and structures responsive to the needs of all categories especially women. My research interest is in GBVH, Gender, politics, governance etc.
PhD Elena Gerasimova
Melisa Serrano
School of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of the Philippines
I teach courses on theories in industiral relations, labour and the economy, industrial relations and national development, and human resource development at the national level. My research involves the following topics: non-standard and precarious employment in ASEAN and East Asia; collective representation and collective action among workers in informal employment; union renewal; the informal economy; industrial relations in micro and small enterprises; trade unions and social movements; comparative industrial relations; wages and productivity in the Philippines; and 'alternatives' to capitalism. I engage with trade unions and other worker organisations in the Philippines and in other countries in terms of collaborative research, training and education, program development and evaluation, and other forms of technical support.
mostafa henaway
Nhlanhla Mabizela
Ingeniera Saray López
Saray Lopez Aragon is the current General Secretary of SINTRAICA (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Caña - Union of Sugarcane Industry Workers) at Taboga sugar refinery in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. She has worked at Taboga for 37 years and has been on the Executive Board of SINTRAICA for 30 years, six of them as General Secretary. She is a tireless advocate for all workers and has led SINTRAICA as it has taken on the fight for Nicaraguan migrant workers who are critical to sugar production across Costa Rica.
Janhavi Dave
Janhavi Dave is the International Coordinator of HomeNet International and was formerly the Coordinator of HomeNet South Asia. She previously worked with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). She has over 15 years of work experience of organising and building membership-based organisations of informal economy women workers.
