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York University

Communication Studies AP/COMN 3213 3.0 S1 2022

Labour in the Communication and Cultural Industries Group Discussion Report (20%): The class will be divided into groups of 5 students. Please exchange contact information, as this will be your group for the rest of the course. Group discussions will take place on several occasions during class time and will be based on the material covered (readings, videos, discussions, etc.). Your group will receive a question sheet that will guide your discussion. You will have to choose a facilitator to lead each discussion. Everyone must take on the facilitator role once. In addition to leading the group discussion, the facilitator must submit a report that captures the group discussion and your subsequent reflections. Clearly distinguish between your own voice and the voices of others in your group. Upon completion of the discussion, review your notes and supplement the discussion using relevant course material. The report should be no more than 5 double-spaced typed pages in length. You do not have to use essay form, but please express your thoughts in a coherent manner. Please include: a) your name, b) your group #, and c) the names of all members of your group who were present during discussion. Your report will be graded on your comprehension of the course material, the depth of your engagement with the material, and your capacity to convey your ideas to your reader. Next steps: On May 24, you will be placed in a group. Along with other members of your group, determine which of the 5 group discussions you will facilitate. One week after you facilitate your group discussion, hand in the report to me by email to alevant@yorku.ca. In the subject heading, please include: i) your last name, ii) the course (COMN3213), iii) Group Discussion Report, and iv) your group number – e.g. Subject: Smith, COMN3213, Group Discussion Report, Group 2. Group Discussion #5 will take place June 16 and will be due June 23.

Discussion Questions 1. When you work do you ever consider the surplus value you are producing for your

company/owners? Why or why not? 2. Each group member is to share one aspect of the reading on the iPhone that you found

most interesting. What struck you the most from this reading? Why?

3. “But this Notebook goes further than outrage… It enables workers to see how much of the share of the value produced is appropriated from them by the capitalists, and to therefore make the case for a different way to organise production and to end exploitation” (The Rate of Exploitation, 23). Does this notebook go further than outrage, as it claims? Does enabling workers to see this help to make the case for a different way to organize production? What could that look like?

4. Collectively try to describe Marx’s concept of the commodity. What is significant about this concept? Can you make any connections to labour in the communication and cultural industries, broadly defined?