Updates for Week 18's seminar

New Reading for Week
OK, so, as I told you I'd be doing last class, I've made one change for this week's readings (reflected in the updated Lecture, Reading, and Assignment Schedule for Winter 2008): Craig's Chapter 4 is now optional; in its place I've added Quarter Chapter 2. You can download this reading as a PDF from the "Lecture and Seminar Supplements" section of the blog (down right hand navigation bar under "Week 18"), or from here. Give it time to download and download it from a fast connection, it's an 8.5 meg file (apologies, that's what we get for scanning it, but should take less than a minute to download). Let me know if you can't download it BEFORE Thursday and I'll try to send you a zipped copy.

Suggestions for How to Prepare this Week
Here are some suggestions for what you should be focusing on for this week's readings:

*Craig Ch. 3 - a) know what a "service cooperative" is; b) "Contributions to the Economy" section (pp. 93-101) and "Why is the Potential Not Realized"section (pp. 101-102).
*Craig Ch 4 - a) read quickly through pp. 107-115 (you should recognize some of this description from Melnyk); b) spend most of your time in the "Analysis" section (pp. 115-127).
*Quarter Ch 2 - make sure you understand Quarter's 7 "models of cooperative organization". This will be important for understanding where your coop/alt. org. fits into the social economy in Canada.

Lastly, a general reading tip for this course: Read the examples quickly (but DO read these sections too...) and focus on, underline, and think hard about the theories and concepts and analysis put forward by the authors; these will be invaluable for your semester research work on your firms.

Other Sundry Issues
For those of you that I promised I'd talk with on the phone, please give me a call tomorrow or Wednesda and we'll discuss what we need to discuss then. For those of you that want to meet with me to discuss your papers due next week, I'll be available briefly after class, so come and see me. You can also call me all of next week if you need assistance with anything.

Research forms and other documents posted...

I've uploaded the forms you'll need for your interviews on the blog. Go to the new "Required Research Documents" section in the right hand navigation column to download the Word docs.

Also, you'll notice that I have uploaded the two charts, one from last week and one from this week, as promised, in the "Lecture and Seminar Supplements" section. Again, you'll find this in the right hand navigation column.

Alternative Firm Analysis Instructions

Go here to find out the requirements and specific instructions for the Alternative Firm Analysis project due on February 7.

Or, see the "Course Requirements" section in the right navigation bar.

Course kits, books, and articles for Winter 2008

Here is the latest regarding the status of the course kit, books, and articles for the Winter 2008 semester:

The course kit for this semester will be available in the bookstore by the middle of next week. It is $16.00. There are a few copies of the Briscoe & Ward's book Helping Ourselves in the bookstore, more will be arriving by the middle of next week I was told by the bookstore yesterday. John C. Craig's book, The Nature of Co-operation, will also be arriving by the middle of next week. The first reading from these two books is from Craig's book on Jan. 17 (Week 16) (see the Winter 2008 lecture and reading schedule for more details).

As far as readings from the Winter 2008 course kit, there are two readings from it that are for next week, the required Linda McDowell reading "Father and Ford Revisited" and the optional but highly recommended David Harvey reading on Fordism and flexible accumulation (these are readings for Week 15, see the Winter 2008 lecture and reading schedule for more details). Here is a PDF version of McDowell's piece you can download for your reading for next week: McDowell, Linda,"Father and Ford Revisited: Gender, Class, and Employment Change in the New Millennium". I will be uploading Harvey's piece so you can download it as well later on today after I scan it.

Also for next week, you'll find the Louis Favreau piece in the Fall 2007 course kit; it's the last article. And, of course, the Cavanagh & Mander and Ellwood chapters are in the books.

Again, stay tuned for the Harvey piece which I will post later on today.