UCL - Contextual factors of work in Europe

[TRAV2700]

[15h] 5 credits

This course is taught in the 1st semester.

Teacher(s): Evelyne Léonard

Language: French

Level: Second

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Aims

- To describe to students the contexts in the various countries of the European Union that give them the ba-sic information they need in order to embark on comparative studies of labour issues.
- Students will be encouraged through supervised reading to work in the three following areas:
- comparative economic and social geography in the countries of the European Union;
- comparative political systems in countries of the European Union;
- technology, work organisation and ergonomics.
The seminar will aim to familiarise students with the key features of the world of work environment in European countries participating in the 'Master européen en Sciences du Travail'

Main themes

They will give them an initial understanding of the economic, political, institutional and industrial relations context in these countries (i.e. France, Germany, Great Britain, It-aly, Portugal and Spain). It will also seek, through reading and discussions during ses-sions, to lead a reflection on the issue of working time in these countries. By the end of the course, students will understand how this issue presents in the country that they are working on as a group.
Content: To deal with the 'contextual factors of work', students will have take an interest not only in the contexts in which the work is carried out, but also in the work itself. In order to address it concretely, the seminar will be based on a study of a particular issue such as working time or equal opportunities. In the framework of a research project sce-nario, we will attempt to find out whether there is convergence of working time in various countries of the European Union, and, if so, why. The focus will therefore be on identify-ing the regulations in force in these countries, the debates that are taking place, any negotiations under way on the subject, and the economic, political, institutional and in-dustrial relations contexts in which this issue occurs.

Content and teaching methods

Content
- Introduction
- State of situation for each of the selected countries and working hypotheses
- political and institutional context
- context of industrial relations

Method The seminar seeks active participation of students as:
- desk research and preparations between sessions
- presentations and group discussions during the meetings.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

The seminar demands students' active participation in the framework of information search and preparation between sessions, and on group discus-sion during the sessions.
.This course forms part of a study programme that takes place in the evenings and on Saturday mornings