Labor Studies Division Fall 2021 Newsletter Todd Vachon, Chair Emily Yen, Vice Chair Mel Borstad, Newsletter Editor A WORD FROM THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR Hello, fellow labor scholars! We are very excited to be leading the Labor Studies Division of the SSSP for the next two years! I am Todd Vachon, Assistant Professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers University and the Director of the Labor Education Action Research Network (LEARN) as well as an active member in the Rutgers AAUP-AFT. I am Emily Yen, a Visiting Faculty Scholar at the University of Virginia. In this Autumn newsletter, we want to take a moment to thank Jacqueline Zalewski for her past leadership as Division Chair of Labor Studies and for her assistance as we transitioned into our new roles. We also want to thank all of you who took time to send us news about your own work, upcoming conferences, and job postings to include in this newsletter. This newsletter comes on the heels of a very successful virtual conference. The Labor Studies sessions, including panels on sustainability and green jobs, gender and work, labor and the global economy, disability and the future of work, the growth of nonstandard work, and reflections and lessons from the 10th anniversary of the Wisconsin uprising. The dialogue among labor scholars in each of our sessions was very engaging, and – as is synonymous with SSSP – scholars of all ages and career stages were highly supportive of each other. We are now looking forward to the 2022 SSSP conference, which will be held from August 5-7 in Los Angeles, with the theme of “The Sociological Reimagination: From Moments to Momentum.” Please read the list of Labor Studies sessions below and consider submitting your scholarly work to one of them before the deadline of January 31. Faculty mentors of graduate students doing work in the Braverman tradition, please encourage your students to submit to the Labor Studies student paper competition before January 31. The call and instructions for this award are below as well. As Chair and Vice Chair of the Labor Studies Division for SSSP, we have several goals for the division over the next two years. The first is to strengthen the connection between labor scholarship and the praxis of labor organizing. Building these connections can benefit our scholarship as well as the labor movement more broadly. To foster these connections and provide more opportunities for member engagement, our division will periodically host webinars. We also aim to increase participation by division members in the work of the division. It’s extremely important to register to attend the annual conference and, while there, attend the Labor Studies Division business meeting. It is in this meeting where the session themes for the following year are brainstormed. The more members that attend, the more terrific ideas can be considered, including themes that might better highlight the subject of your own research or that of others that may not have been reflected in sessions of previous years. We will be sharing more details about the location and time for the 2020 division business meeting as the conference gets closer and we hope that you will join us! We also encourage you to invite your friends and colleagues to join SSSP and the labor studies division! Faculty, speak with your students; students, speak with your professors; everyone speak with your peers! We plan to continue fostering engagement and mutual support among Labor Studies Division members through social media. Please “like” the Labor Studies Division Facebook group and then consider posting your scholarly and social justice news there. PLEASE visit your division on social media, like the page, and share news here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sssplaborstudies/ On a related note, SSSP membership renewal time is near, so please be sure to renew your Society membership as well as your Labor Studies division membership. We wish everyone a happy and healthy remainder of the fall semester and look forward to seeing you all soon. Sincerely, Todd E. Vachon – Chair Emily Yen – Vice Chair 2022 ANNUAL CONFERENCE - LABOR STUDIES DIVISION-SPONSORED SESSIONS Solo-Sponsored Sessions Organizing Academic Labor in the Post-Pandemic University Organized by Emily Yen Nonstandard, Contingent Employment Organized by Jackie Zalewski Work and the Global Economy Organized by Anthony Huaqui and Salvador Rangel Co-Sponsored Sessions Institutional Ethnographic Explorations of the Meaning of Work Co-sponsored with the Institutional Ethnography Division Organized by Sue Sherifali The Future of Work & Workers Co-sponsored with the Environment and Technology Division Organized by Todd Vachon and Alexis Econie Sexualities and Work Co-sponsored with the Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Communities Division Organized by Janelle Pham Pathways to Re-entry: Employment Co-sponsored with the Crime and Juvenile Delinquency Division Organized by Michelle Estes The Health of the Healthcare Workforce Co-sponsored with Health, Health Policy, and Health Services Division Organized by Lilla Pivnick and Tania Jenkins Gender & Work Co-sponsored with the Gender Division Organized by Tracy Vargas and Kyla Walters Disability and Work Co-sponsored with the Disability Division Organized by Fitore Hyseni LABOR STUDIES DIVISION ANNOUNCEMENTS Accepting Submissions for the Harry Braverman Student Paper Award The Labor Studies Division is soliciting graduate student papers that build on the legacy of the late Harry Braverman. Braverman’s work on labor processes, his concern with the growth of large corporations, and how machinery would transform and alter work and the role of workers is as relevant today as it was when he was writing. The Braverman tradition includes work in a variety of areas, including (but not limited to): labor process studies, critical organization studies, research on the intersections of gender, race, and class at work, technical and organizational change and its impact on work culture, labor movements and resistance in the workplace, critical perspectives on labor markets and occupational transformation. Papers co-authored with faculty members will not be accepted. Single authored papers by graduate students and papers co-authored by graduate students are welcome. All papers will be evaluated by three Labor Studies Division scholars who serve on the awards committee. To Submit: E-mail papers and a short letter of submission identifying your graduate program to the Harry Braverman Award Committee Chair Tracy Vargas, Tracy.Vargas@uncp.edu by the January 15th deadline. In addition, authors are required to submit their papers through the annual meeting Call for Papers online system. Please note that students may only submit to one division paper competition. As part of that commitment the division annually awards a prize to the best student paper of the year. The Award consists of a $250 cash prize, a plaque, membership dues, and conference registration. The award will be conferred at the SSSP Annual Meeting in August 2022. Seeking One Additional Volunteer for the Braverman Award Committee We are seeking one more volunteer to replace a past member who is stepping down. The responsibilities include reading and judging student paper submission for the Divisions’ annual student paper competition. The Time commitment is minimal, but the experience is very rewarding – and labor studies division graduate students greatly appreciate the feedback from peers! ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM MEMBERS New Publications: Friedman, Samuel R; Williams, Leslie D; Guarino, Honoria; Mateu-Gelabert, Pedro; Krawczyk, Noa; Hamilton, Leah; Walters Suzan M; Ezell, Jerel M; Khan, Maria; Di Iorio, Jorgelina; Yang, Lawrence H; Earnshaw, Valerie A. 2021. “The Stigma System: How Sociopolitical Domination, Scapegoating and Stigma Shape Public Health.” Community Psychology, doi: 10.1002/jcop.22581. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34115390. Sobering, Katherine. 2021. “Survival Finance and the Politics of Equal Pay.” British Journal of Sociology 72(3):742–56. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12832. Vachon, Todd E. 2021. “Just Transition Frames in the Context of the American Labor Movement.” In Handbook of Environmental-Labour Studies by Nora Räthzel, Dimitris Stevis, and David Uzzell (Editors). New York: Palgrave Macmillan Publishing. Zhang, Dongling and Nancy Jurik. 2021. “Mobilising ‘She Power’: Chinese Women Entrepreneurs Negotiating Cultural and Neoliberal Contexts,” in Ulrike Guelich, Amanda Bullough, Tatiana Manolova, Leon Schjoedt (eds.) Women’s Entrepreneurship & Culture. London: Edward Elgar Publishing Inc., pp. 174-195. Awards: Jackie Zaelwski was awarded the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award for 2021/22. Todd Vachon was honored by the New Jersey Work Environment Council as a “COVID Hero” for his work on the weekly webinar “Saving Lives, Protecting Workers,” which ran for more than 52 weeks during the peak of the pandemic, connecting workers, unions, and health and safety advocates with important information related to COVID and work/employment issues. Call for Papers Special issue of Research in the Sociology of Work, edited by Rick Delbridge, Markus Helfen, Andi Pekarek and Gretchen Purser. This Special Issue on “Ethnographies of Work” invites papers that explore the changing nature of work but also the continuities that mark worlds of work. We also welcome papers that explore the methodological issues of ethnography in the context of researching work. Our interest is in providing a showcase for a broad range of the latest research in the ethnographic traditions of the sociology of work. Submissions are invited for contributions of all types and may be made at any time up until 1st March 2022. Please submit your manuscript to RSWEditors@gmail.com and include Ethnography in the subject line. For further details or questions, please reach out to Gretchen Purser at: gwpurser@syr.edu Community Research and Development Division - Community Partner Paper The Community Research and Development Division announces its 2022 Community Partner Paper Competition. Consistent with our division’s mission, this paper award is intended to recognize rigorous academic work that has practical implications for members of marginalized communities and specifically, to celebrate community-engaged work. Paper topics can focus on various social issues and problems related to community, such as the causes and consequences of communities’ exclusion or marginalization from processes and resources, the capacities and strengths of communities and community movements, and the development and changes within communities.    Qualitative and quantitative empirical analyses, applied research, and theoretical papers are welcome. To be eligible for submission, a paper must not be published or accepted for publication. Papers must be co-authored with a community partner; they may be co-authored by more than one faculty member and/or student, but must include at least one community partner. Community partners are characterized by any community-based entity that is outside of the academy. Papers must not exceed 25 double-spaced pages (including all notes, references, and tables), and should include a brief abstract.    To be eligible for the award, the author(s) must make a commitment to present the paper at a session during the 2022 SSSP Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. To be considered, submit (a) a copy of the manuscript, (b) a cover letter specifying that the paper is to be considered in the Community Research and Development Division Community Partner Paper Competition, and (c) a brief letter from the community partner commenting on his or her role in the paper. All materials must be submitted electronically to the Annual Meeting Call for Papers on the SSSP conference website by January 15, 2022 and also sent to the Committee Chair, Matthew H. McLeskey, at mhmclesk@buffalo.edu.  The winner will receive a $100 cash award and a plaque of recognition at the Community Research and Development Division business meeting. Seeking Study Participants for Research on Contractor Onboarding If you are a 1. Contractor; 2. Agency representative who places contractors; or 3. Manager of contractors at a client organization, we want to hear about your experiences with contractor onboarding. We are looking for participants to participate in a recorded interview to help advance scholarly understanding of the experiences, onboarding processes, and roles of nonstandard employees (contractors, consultants, and temporary workers). If you would like to participate in this study, please reach out to: Dr. Jacqueline M. Zalewski, Professor of Sociology, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, jzalewski@wcupa.edu. Singing Lectures by Corey Dolgon - Folksinger and Sociologist Corey Dolgon, a Ph.D in American Culture and Sociology Professor has performed “singing lectures” for over 25 years. Focusing on the role that folksongs play in the U.S. labor and other social movements, Corey’s words & music bring both history and theory to life. He is a long-time labor activist and community organizer who's used folk songs to build solidarity on the line and engage students in the classroom. His singing lectures cover movement history from a multicultural perspective and examines the function of folk songs in workers’ and activists' work and organizing. The lecture can be tailored for specific needs and time, event or class schedules. Corey is very adept at gaining audience participation and provides an object lesson in how the collective acts of singing can enhance the feelings of solidarity and create new possibilities for collective identities. For more information or to book a Singing Lecture, contact Corey at: cdolgon@stonehill.edu ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM SSSP Call for Books for the 2022 Annual Meeting’s Author Meets Critics Sessions Author Meets Critic Sessions are designed to bring authors of recent books considered to be important contributions to the study of social problems and the advancement of social justice together with discussants chosen to provide different viewpoints. Only books published in 2020 or 2021 are eligible for nomination. You must be a current SSSP member to submit a nomination. Self-nominations are not accepted. At the discretion of the Program Chair, the Committee may invite authors whose work is particularly relevant to the year’s theme, “The Sociological Reimagination: From Moments to Momentum.” Author Meets Critics Session proposals must be submitted to the Program Chair by December 15, 2021. For questions, please contact Program Chair Jackie Krasas at: programchairsssp2022@gmail.com. SSSP Executive Director Search The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) is seeking applicants for the position of Executive Officer, to begin at the conclusion of the Society’s August 2022 Annual Meeting. We would appreciate your assistance in identifying qualified candidates. Here is a link to the posting: https://www.sssp1.org/file/Announcement_for_the_Next_SSSP_Executive_Officer.pdf. Applications must be sent to the SSSP’s Administrative Officer and Meeting Manager, Michele Koontz, at mkoontz3@utk.edu. Applications received by December 15, 2021 will receive full consideration. If you have any questions about the position, please feel free to contact Dr. Gillian Niebrugge-Brantley, Chair, Permanent Organization and Strategic Planning Committee, niebran@attglobal.net, and/or Michele Koontz, mkoontz3@utk.edu. As a social justice organization, the SSSP seeks a diverse applicant pool for the position. Applicants must be a current member of the Society. Thank you for your assistance in this search. We hope you will consider applying for this position or encourage qualified applicants to apply. PLEASE SEND US YOUR UPDATES FOR THE NEXT NEWSLETTER. WE LOVE RECOGNIZING OUR MEMBERS’ ACHIEVEMENTS!!