This course approaches the study of community economic development from a labor market perspective, focusing on questions of employment and labor at the local level. The course examines how prevailing economic and political trends, such as globalization and deregulation, produce new forms of urban inequality and how actors at the community level respond to and challenge these trends. Of particular interest are the phenomena of low-wage work and new forms of labor market inequality that adversely affect disadvantaged workers, such as immigrants, people of color, and women. Through readings, lectures, and class discussion, students will gain a working knowledge of recent regional economic and labor market trends with a specific focus on outcomes by race, ethnicity, and gender. Students will learn also to access, manipulate, and analyze basic regional economic and labor market data. This foundational knowledge will enable students to examine and analyze case studies that reflect different strategies for change—including workforce development initiatives, living wage campaigns, and unionization efforts—to better understand the possibilities and limitations of community-level approaches to redressing economic inequality.