Course detail

Art and Labor: Class, Production, and Power

FaVU-2AaAAcad. year: 2025/2026

The course Art and Labor: Class, Production, and Power examines the historical and contemporary intersections of artistic production and labor through the lens of social class. We will explore how class positions shape the making, distribution, and reception of art, investigate the labor conditions of artists and cultural workers, and interrogate how class dynamics manifest in institutions, representations, and aesthetics. Students will engage with readings from art history, cultural theory, labor studies, and visual culture to develop critical vocabulary for understanding art in relation to economic and social power. The course will be taught as reading seminars (with short lecture introductions).

Language of instruction

English

Number of ECTS credits

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

Mgr. Zuzana Jakalová, Ph.D.

Department

Department of Art History and Theory (KTDU)

Entry knowledge

No specific rior knowledge is required.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

Attendance of min 75%, essay of 6000 characters (3 pages) about an independently chosen theme reflecting one of the topics covered in the course.

Aims

The aim of the course is to equip students with critical tools to:

examine the relationships between artistic production, labor, and social class across historical and contemporary contexts
analyze how labor—creative, institutional, and reproductive—shapes the art world
explore how class intersects with race, gender, and globalization in artistic practices and institutions
develop the tools to interrogate the political economy of art, assess the structures that govern cultural labor
articulate informed arguments through written, oral, and/or creative projects.

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Andrew Ross, “The Mental Labor Problem” in Nice Work If You Can Get It (2009) (EN)
Ben Davis, 9.5 Theses on Art and Class (2013) (EN)
Hans Abbing, Why Are Artists Poor?, selected chapters (2002) (EN)
Julia Bryan-Wilson, Art Workers, Chapter 1 (2009) (EN)
Karl Marx, “Estranged Labor” from Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844) (EN)
Leigh Claire La Berge, Wages Against Artwork, Introduction (2019) (EN)
Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Maintenance Art Manifesto (1969) (EN)
Silvia Federici, Wages Against Housework (1975) (EN)

Type of course unit

Seminar

26 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Mgr. Zuzana Jakalová, Ph.D.
doc. MgA. Jiří Skála, Ph.D.

Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction — Art, Labor, and Class Week 2: The Artist as Worker and Class Subject. The economic and class conditions of artists, including precarity, self-exploitation, and gig labor. Week 3: Artisanship, Industrialization, and the Working Class. The rise of industrial capitalism and its effects on the status of labor and aesthetic production. Week 4: Class Representation in Art. How are the working class and labor represented in historical and contemporary art? Week 5: Feminist Labor and the Gendered Division of Class. How does gender and class intersect in the valuation of domestic, reproductive, and artistic labor? Week 6: Labor in Cultural Institutions. The labor and class structures behind the scenes in museums and galleries. Week 7: Class, Collectivity, and Alternative Economies. Class consciousness and collective action in artistic practices. Week 8: Marxist and Post-Marxist Perspectives on Artistic Labor. How does class struggle and alienation inform artistic production and critique? Week 9: The Global Division of Artistic Labor. Global capitalism, supply chains, and the outsourcing of creative and manual labor in the arts. Week 10: Digital Labor, Class Mobility, and Creative Economies. How does class operate within digital creative platforms and gig economies? Week 11: Class Struggles in Art Education. Who can afford to become an artist? Educational institutions as class filters. Week 12: Art in Labor Movements. How have artists supported or led labor struggles through visual and performative practices? Week 13: Final Projects + Class Synthesis. Students present critical projects that analyze specific artwork, movement, or institution in relation to class and labor.