MA International Labour and Trade Union Studies

Other courses

Course summary

Part 1/Year 1 is a taught course made up of 3 main modules:

Module 1

International labour relations and the globalisation of labour

Module 2

Crisis and renewal. Labour movement organisational democracy, leadership and change.

Module 3

Engaged research; theory into practice. Philosophical standpoints, methodology, research methods

Modules are assessed through written assignments. There are no exams.

Each module is delivered through 3-day residential workshops at Oxford.

In Part 1 there are two residentials each term. In addition there is an introductory 2-day residential at the start of the year.


Full time students will normally also be expected to attend the Ruskin induction programme prior to the start of term.


Full time students will attend seminars and tutorials and spend time at UK labour organisations on unpaid attachments.

Part 2 – work/union based dissertation, 15-20,000 words

In part 2 students move towards more independent study and research and the writing of an individual dissertation. It is expected that the dissertation will be work/union related and/or related to a current issue around labour movement renewal and change and be comparative and/or international in its scope.

All students will attend one 3-day residential in the autumn term following Part 1; part time students will attend a further 3-day residential in each of the following two terms and will have individual dissertation tutorial supervision.

Full time students will write their dissertations between June and October and will have individual tutorial/supervisory supervision from tutors in the College.