ASA Mini-Conference on Race, Labor and Empire
August 1 & 2, 2008
Northeastern University
O'Bryant African-American Institute
40 Leon St.
Boston, Massachusetts
(this page last updated on August 5, 2008)
Organized by the American Sociological Association Section on Labor and Labor Movements and the Association of Black Sociologists. Co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of Northeastern University, and
the following ASA Sections: Section on Asia and Asian America, Section on Latino/Latina Sociology, Section on Marxist Sociology, Section on Race, Gender and Class, Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities, and Section on Political Economy of the World System.
Directions to the Race Labor Empire Mini-Conference:
From the Sheraton or Hilton Hotels:
Head southeast on Dalton Street to Belvidere Street, turn left and walk .2 miles to Huntington Avenue; at Huntington, turn
right and walk past the Marriott and Colonnade Hotels.
From the Colonnade Hotel:
Head southwest on Huntington Ave/Ave of the Arts/Rt-9 for .6 miles
Turn left at Forsyth Street (at midpoint of Northeastern Univ campus) and go .1 miles
Turn right at Greenleaf Street and go 266 feet (thru campus)
Turn left at Leon Street and go .1 miles to #40 Leon St, the O'Bryant African American Institute
On the SUBWAY:
Green Line E line subway (outbound) to the Northeastern Stop on Huntington Ave. It is a two block walk from there.
Program
Download a pdf version of the final Conference Program flyer.
Friday, August 1
6:30-7:00. Gathering
7:00-9:00. Dinner and Plenary
Organizers: Dan Clawson and Deirdre Royster
Moderator and MC: Deirdre Royster, Black Studies and Sociology, the College of William and Mary
Jerome Scott, Founder and Director, Project South
Saru Jayaraman, Restaurant Opportunities Center
General Baker, founding member the League of Revolutionary Black Workers
Saturday, August 2
8:00-9:00. Gathering and Welcome
Jill Esbenshade and Rod Bush
9:00-9:45. Opening Keynote
Bill Fletcher, Jr, Executive Editor of BlackCommentator.com (www.blackcommentator.com), and former Assistant to President John
Sweeney, AFL-CIO, "Labor and the Racial Trip-Wire."
9:45-11:15. Session: Theorizing Race and Capitalism/Imperialism
Organizer: Rod Bush
Kelvin Santiago-Valles, SUNY Binghamton. "Racialized capitalist accumulation in the historical long-term: The continuing
significance of Oliver C. Cox."
Edna Bonacich, University of California, Riverside, "Race and the U.S. Labor Movement: A Continuing Challenge."
Cynthia Lucas Hewitt, Morehouse College. "Soul to soul: Alternative paradigms of solidarity to race, nation, class, and
gender."
Agustin Lao-Montes, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. "Contending Pan-Africanisms in the Americas: Imperial
multiculturalism against radical hemisphere Black politics."
Discussant: Aldon Morris, Northwestern University
11:30-1:00. Session: Dividing Lines: How Capital, States, and We Ourselves, Divide Us
Organizers: Carolina Bank Muñoz and Dorian Warren
Stephen Steinberg, Queens College and CUNY Graduate Center, "Neoliberal immigration policy and its impact on African
Americans."
Steven Pitts, University of California, Berkeley.
Margaret Grey, Adelphi University. "'Are They Taking Our Jobs?' Black-Brown Tensions in the Workplace."
1:00-2:00. Lunch
Chair: Hector Delgado, University of La Verne
Presentation of prize for best work on Race, Labor and Empire
2:00-3:30. Panels:
- A. Comparative Racial Capitalisms:
Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on How Race Matters for Global Capital
Organizers Ching Kwan Lee and Steve McKay
Jane Collins, University of Wisconsin, Madison. "Neoliberal and Neoconservative Imperialisms and Race, in Milwaukee
and Mexico."
Robin Archer, London School of Economics. "Race and Labor in New World Settler Societies in Australia and the United
States."
Steve McKay, University of California, Santa Cruz. "Our Little Brown Sailors: Colonial Constructions of Race and Labor
in and beyond the Philippines."
Moon-Kie Jung, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. "Hanapepe Massacre: Racism, Violence, and Filipino Sugar
Workers in Hawai'i."
- B. Beyond Union Organizing:
Mobilizing around Race and Labor
Organizers: Rachel Meyer and Anna Guevarra
Dorian Warren, Columbia University. "Contesting Neoliberalism in the City: Race, Class, and Anti-Wal-Mart Campaigns
in Chicago and Los Angeles."
Sarah Swider, University of Wisconsin. "Recognizing Difference and Recreating Unions: Migrant Domestic Workers in
Hong Kong."
Alliance to Develop Power Workers Center/Casa Obrera, Springfield, MA.
Discussant: Rachel Meyer, University of Michigan.
- C. Racializing Capitalism:
Gender, Sexuality and the Politics of Labor
Organizers: Jennifer Chun and Robyn Rodriguez
Bridget Kenny, University of Witwatersrand
"Recognizing race: South African service workers' post-apartheid gendered politics."
Renisa Mawani, University of British Columbia
"The racial impurities of global capitalism: The politics of labor, interraciality, and lawlessness in British Columbia's
salmon canneries."
Bruce Nissen and Sherman Henry
"The legacy of racism: A case study of continuing racial impediments to union effectiveness."
Enobong Hannah Branch and Melissa Wooten, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
"Who gets to work? Race, gender, and the notion of 'appropriate' labor."
3:45-5:15. Building an Inclusive and Just Labor Movement
Open discussion led by Bill Fletcher Jr.
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ASA 2008 Annual Meetings
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