Dylan Webb
Dylan is graduating with a rather unusual degree designation - a Bachelor of Arts comprised of three minors: in Labour Studies, Communication, and Political Science. The three disciplines share similar theoretical approaches; for Dylan it's important that this theory include political economy. Political economy is a theoretical framework that examines the relationship between politics and the economy, institutions and social behaviour. In Labour Studies a political economy approach helps us understand the impact of political and economic factors on working conditions and labour markets. 鈥淚 wanted to know why we lived in a place where most workers can鈥檛 really find a place to live, and why people can鈥檛 afford healthy food... I have always been concerned with why it seems that everyone can鈥檛 鈥榤ake it鈥� even though they鈥檙e working hard.鈥�
Studying systems of inequality has propelled Dylan through his degree, each discipline providing its own lens. Dylan says that Labour Studies has been important in providing a critical collectivist perspective, rather than viewing economic outcomes as an individual problem. A collectivist approach rejects the idea the 鈥渋f you end up poor, it's because you don鈥檛 work hard. Labour Studies flips the script and takes a structuralist approach, [asking] why are people who are working hard still facing these issues?鈥� It is a way of thinking that considers the perspective of working people, and the structural challenges to economic advancement they face.
He also enjoys the program鈥檚 attention to tangible examples of collective organizing and 鈥渃oncrete policy solutions鈥� in addition to discussions of 鈥渢heoretical idealism and vision for the future.鈥�
After completing his undergraduate degree, Dylan entered into the master's program in the School of Communication.