Module manager: Kate Hardy
Email: k.r.hardy@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
LUBS5338M Global Perspectives on Work
This module is not approved as an Elective
Digital work, understood as work enabled by digital technologies and carried out either entirely online or in designated physical settings, has grown rapidly over the past decade in both the Global North and the Global South. This module explores key issues such as globalisation and transnational labour markets, the distribution and outsourcing of digital labour, inequalities within global digital work, labour responses, and the role of digital work in human development strategies. The module is grounded in theoretical perspectives, including decolonial theory, the global division of labour, global value chains, and the dynamics of unwaged digital labour, to understand new and emerging processes shaping digital work. Through a series of workshops supported by digitally enhanced learning materials, students will use these theoretical foundations to examine and discuss contemporary and emerging challenges in the field.
This module aims to:
1. develop a global framework for understanding digital work
2. understand the distribution of digital labour and its differing regulation and labour practices; and
3. critically assess emerging issues and debates in the world of digital work.
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. demonstrate an understanding of the key concepts, issues and debates relating to digital work
2. critically assess spatial, geographic factors and the roles of different actors across local, regional and global scale in shaping digital work
3. analyse and evaluate policy responses in relation to digital work.
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
Academic skills
1. Weigh up different arguments and perspectives, using supporting evidence to form opinions, arguments, theories and ideas.
2. Communicate effectively in written form to articulate an argument, supported by relevant evidence and adhering to academic conventions.
Digital skills
3. Try different ways of learning in digital spaces, appreciate what works for you, and seek online help when needed.
Work-ready skills
4. Communicate information clearly and appropriately, adapt your message to different audiences, and listen respectfully to understand others’ views and feelings.
5. Contribute positively and build constructive, supportive and co-operative relationships with others, towards the achievement of shared goals and outcomes.
Indicative content
This module will discuss emergent forms of digital work as they pertain to the global economy, specifically, drawing on examples from the Global South.
It will consider the spatial and contextual factors shaping digital work and how these may diverge or converge across the contexts.
The syllabus will include substantive issues such as the Digital Divide, uneven development, gender and diversity, platform work and digital work in existing industries (manufacturing and care), as well as emergent industries such as platforms. In addition, it will consider different international responses to this work, including HRM, labour rights and systems of social protection. Theoretical approaches will include Marxist, feminist and decolonial theory for making sense of these emergent phenomena.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workshop | 10 | 2 | 20 |
| Private study hours | 130 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 150 | ||
Students will undertake independent learning to prepare for the workshops, using the digitally enhanced learning resources that have been produced specifically for this module. These resources will be made available on Minerva before each workshop and students will be provided guidance on how long they should spend preparing for the workshops. The remaining hours will be spent preparing for assessment.
The assessment strategy is designed to examine written communication, articulate the complexities of work from global perspectives and evaluate contemporary and emerging challenges of work.
In the final workshop, called the Futures Lab, groups create one critical scenario by examining factors that may have a high impact and high uncertainty in a probable future. To do this, they draw on insights from two intersecting workshop topics. The first activity in the lab involves developing a collage that represents a preferable future in 2050, guided by a series of prompt questions. In the second activity, groups carry out backcasting by creating a roadmap that works backwards from their 2050 vision to 2040, then to 2030, and finally to the present, identifying key milestones, potential obstacles, and possible wildcards along the way.
Groups present their collage and roadmap to the class and receive questions and feedback from both tutors and fellow students.
Following this, the summative assessment requires the students to produce a long-form essay which develops their in-class group ‘Futures lab’ presentations into an essay format which outlines a preferable future scenario relating to two intersecting workshop topics and the policy levers, social change and economic context required to achieve it.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | 3,000 words | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
The resit for this module will be 100% by 3,000 word assignment. Students will be given a separate resit coursework, which will be an essay question relating to the substantive topics on the module.
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 30/04/2026
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