Labor Education, Labor Studies, and the Knowledge Factor

An unintended effect of the determination of trade unionists to obtain their share of the academic credentials required in modern society is the emergence of labor studies, a program that involves a systematic concentration on and refinement of the knowledge about the labor movement and work life. Labor studies represents a new and deeper focus on the world of labor and may lead to new insights about the labor movement and new arrangements of the knowledge accumulated. Labor studies is not a discipline as such but rather an orientation — like women's studies or industrial relations — that applies the conceptual tools and data of the social sciences to analyzing a particular area — in this case, work and organized labor. Because it demands a familiarity with several disciplines, it requires formally trained educators who are subject matter specialists and who can meet the challenges of a new educational focus.