Noa Kukurudz, FCLC 2024

MAJOR: Political Science, International Studies

BIO: Noa Kukurudz is a French-born Queens native at Fordham College Lincoln Center. Noa is a senior on the pre-law track majoring in Political Science and International Studies with a minor in Anthropology. Having studied abroad in Lille, France in the 2022 fall semester, she witnessed the rise of labor-related protests in France at the time. These protests and the intersectionality of living as a Franco-American inspired her research on work cultures and labor rights in France and the United States.

PROJECT TITLE: Work to Live or Live to Work? How Work Culture Has Influenced Workers' Rights in France and the United States

MENTOR: Heather Gautney, Department of Sociology

ABSTRACT: Work culture is a concept that employees live through but don’t often think about. The basis of a work culture is rooted in the societies it is part of, most often associated with the countries where the work is based. Within these work cultures, there exists a strong relationship between work culture and the rights of workers. Workers' rights aid in further emphasizing sentiments regarding work culture through legislation. A culture that places a heavy emphasis on work rather than on personal enjoyment outside of a work environment will have different labor laws than a culture that appreciates the finer things in life by making work a lower priority. The research examines the influence that work culture has on workers' rights, specifically in France and the United States, two wealthy Western countries that have stark differences in their work cultures. This research examined some of the key components regarding work culture and its influence on workers' rights – the impact that societal cultures have, the legal components, economic influences, different mentalities associated with labor, and the role that protests play. There exists a distinction in the two work cultures regarding the relationship between the rights that workers have and the ways in which they feel and act on it, as is explored in the research.