NumberwccwECTS2.0LevelbasicOverviewDo we live to work or work to live? Does what you do define who you are? Traditionally, Switzerland has been a nation with a strong work ethic: Swiss People generally identify themselves with their job and often believe that hard work has an inherent moral value. One of the reasons for this is the history of Protestantism. Yet, in the globalized world, different work cultures collide. In the class, we will investigate:
- how different societies differ in their attitudes towards work and holidays from others. How we should deal with these differences in the age of globalization?
- why we have to work at all? And could there be a life without work?
Learning objectivesStudents will:
- discuss the meaning of work and individual work-life balance
- reflect upon their own attitudes towards work, leisure and identification with their job
- get to know basic concepts and notions of work in European philosophy and in the economic theory
- get to know the (cultural) history of work and some historical debates about working organization (socialism, trade unions, citizen’s basic income etc.)
- understand the role of work in Swiss culture and society and gain insight in the political organization of work in Switzerland
- discuss their understanding of work and employment in an intercultural and global context and compare different work cultures
Previous knowledgenoneExam formatCertificate of completionAdditional informationAl Gini: My Job, Myself: Work and the Creation of the Modern Individual, New York: Routledge 2000. 
