Labor & Labor Movements
The Labor and Labor Movements Section is a constituent part of the American Sociological Association (ASA). As an ASA Section, membership in Labor and Labor Movements also requires membership in the ASA. The section's proposal was accepted in July 2000 and became a full-fledged section of ASA in 2002 with all of the responsibilities and privileges as other Sections within the ASA. We welcome new members to ensure that the Labor and Labor Movements Section continues to grow and remains a viable part of the American Sociological Association.
Labor and Labor Movements was formed to promote the common interest of ASA members in the area of sociology broadly dealing with labor and labor movements. Several decades ago, sociological work on labor and labor movements had a distinguished tradition in the discipline. Many prominent sociologists were centrally concerned with the study of labor and unions.
The decline in attention to labor movements by a generation of U.S. scholars is centrally linked to the character of the U.S. labor movement in the period from roughly 1955 to 1995, just as the recent revival of interest in labor is connected to changes in unions themselves. While Canada and some countries in Europe experienced similar trends in unionization, although far less than the U.S., a corresponding decrease in attention by scholars to labor movements resulted during roughly the same post-war period.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the labor movement was arguably the single most important force for progressive change, and as such, formed thousands of overlapping links with intellectuals of all sorts, and became a central focus for political struggles. In the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, unions had become more bureaucratic, less connected to other progressive currents and social movements, and far less open to the academic and intellectual worlds. On the other hand, the rank-and-file members and union leadership would argue that labor and union scholars became generally unreceptive to labor and isolated from the rank-and-file during the same period of time. Yet, there remained a small number of scholars and union members who maintained the connection and helped to pave the way for a renewed study of labor and labor movements during the mid-1990s.
The study of labor and labor movements has once again become an important sub-field within sociology as the labor movement is a major social institution along with education, family, religion, and medical. Recent and new developments are increasingly placing the study of labor and labor movements among the more sociologically interesting institutions. Moreover, the Labor and Labor Movements Section represents a larger and more unique body of work than many of the existing scholarly organizations currently accommodate: Many scholarly organizations do study labor as an intellectual concern but labor and labor movements as a category is generally subsumed under another section or theme. In any case, the concerns of Labor and Labor Movements are not exhaustively represented elsewhere.
The Labor and Labor Movements Section was conceived of as a means that once again offers sociologists and other scholars an opportunity to engage in an exchange on a compelling set of issues which have a distinguished tradition as well as real and important social relevance. The primary purpose of the Labor and Labor Movements Section is similar to that we believe has motivated the formation of unions and other scholarly bodies: To provide a concerted voice against a prevailing elite culture which denigrates and suppresses the lives and voices of labor.
The Labor and Labor Movements Section strives to be a forum for existing work, to create networks and graduate mentoring opportunities that will stimulate interaction and increase the rigor and creativity of future work, to bring researchers, applied sociologists, and rank-and-file members of the labor movement together for discussion and debate, to recognize and reward the best work now being done and thereby to encourage future research, and to heighten awareness among section members and the ASA more generally about the research already being conducted in the field of labor.
Labor and Labor Movements was formed to promote the common interest of ASA members in the area of sociology broadly dealing with labor and labor movements. Several decades ago, sociological work on labor and labor movements had a distinguished tradition in the discipline. Many prominent sociologists were centrally concerned with the study of labor and unions.
The decline in attention to labor movements by a generation of U.S. scholars is centrally linked to the character of the U.S. labor movement in the period from roughly 1955 to 1995, just as the recent revival of interest in labor is connected to changes in unions themselves. While Canada and some countries in Europe experienced similar trends in unionization, although far less than the U.S., a corresponding decrease in attention by scholars to labor movements resulted during roughly the same post-war period.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the labor movement was arguably the single most important force for progressive change, and as such, formed thousands of overlapping links with intellectuals of all sorts, and became a central focus for political struggles. In the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, unions had become more bureaucratic, less connected to other progressive currents and social movements, and far less open to the academic and intellectual worlds. On the other hand, the rank-and-file members and union leadership would argue that labor and union scholars became generally unreceptive to labor and isolated from the rank-and-file during the same period of time. Yet, there remained a small number of scholars and union members who maintained the connection and helped to pave the way for a renewed study of labor and labor movements during the mid-1990s.
The study of labor and labor movements has once again become an important sub-field within sociology as the labor movement is a major social institution along with education, family, religion, and medical. Recent and new developments are increasingly placing the study of labor and labor movements among the more sociologically interesting institutions. Moreover, the Labor and Labor Movements Section represents a larger and more unique body of work than many of the existing scholarly organizations currently accommodate: Many scholarly organizations do study labor as an intellectual concern but labor and labor movements as a category is generally subsumed under another section or theme. In any case, the concerns of Labor and Labor Movements are not exhaustively represented elsewhere.
The Labor and Labor Movements Section was conceived of as a means that once again offers sociologists and other scholars an opportunity to engage in an exchange on a compelling set of issues which have a distinguished tradition as well as real and important social relevance. The primary purpose of the Labor and Labor Movements Section is similar to that we believe has motivated the formation of unions and other scholarly bodies: To provide a concerted voice against a prevailing elite culture which denigrates and suppresses the lives and voices of labor.
The Labor and Labor Movements Section strives to be a forum for existing work, to create networks and graduate mentoring opportunities that will stimulate interaction and increase the rigor and creativity of future work, to bring researchers, applied sociologists, and rank-and-file members of the labor movement together for discussion and debate, to recognize and reward the best work now being done and thereby to encourage future research, and to heighten awareness among section members and the ASA more generally about the research already being conducted in the field of labor.
