ATS2199 · The inhuman body in the human world: Corporations and contemporary culture

Overview

In this unit, you will explore the relationship between humans, cultures and the corporation. Drawing on social science and humanities-based analysis of corporate activity in western and non-western settings, you will critically examines the nature of sociability inherent to the corporation, and the effects corporations have upon culture and social life. We approach corporations not as givens, but as social products that can be compared to other cultural forms. You will engage with case studies of communities that have attempted something very difficult: to live free of the influence of corporations. We will cover the emergence of the legal and commercial arrangements that form the modern corporation; the benefits corporations have brought to human societies; the effects of those legal and commercial arrangements on human life in areas such as time, gender, social structures, family and work; the strategies that humans have implemented as resistance to corporatisation, and; the ongoing projects of boundary-making through which humans try to protect and insulate domains of life from corporate activity.

Areas of study: Monash Intercultural Lab Anthropology

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. Identify and explain how the corporation may be viewed as a site for specific cultural and symbolic interactions;
2. Evaluate aspects of corporations and their cultures using methods and analytical tools from the humanities and social sciences;
3. Present critical analysis of the cultural aspects of corporations in academic forms;
4. Appraise the evolving legal and historical relationship between corporations and human cultures and interactions.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.