On the Line Volume 6, Issue 2 A Message From the Chair Fellow division members it was great to see old friends and to meet many new members in Denver. I am looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting more in New York City. While the Big Apple is always an exciting place to be it will be enhanced by an extra day of discussion on labor issues. The SSSP is hosting a mini-conference on labor the day after the regular meetings. I hope you will be able to attend. As more information becomes available I will do my best to keep members informed. Please save the date and remember the extra day when making your travel arrangements. The section will need a new chair to serve from 2013 to 2015. If you are interested and would like to know what being a division chair entails please contact me at tbrimeyer@georgiasouthern.edu . There will have an online vote in the near (relatively speaking) future. Finally, I assume that all of the division members are well aware of the recent activism at Wal-Mart stores and warehouses. I encourage all members to do what they can to assist workers trying to organize and change their workplaces. In Solidarity, Ted M. Brimeyer WANTED – NOMINATIONS FOR THE NEXT DIVISION CHAIR The section will need a new chair to serve from 2013 to 2015. Lead the Division with your vision, your ideas, your direction and your passion! Please send your nominations for Labor Studies Division Chair (2013-2015) to tbrimeyer@georgiasouthern.edu by December 7, 2012 BRAVERMAN AWARD WINNER Congratulations to Jason Struna from the University of California Riverside for winning the 2012 Harry Braverman student paper competition for his paper: Global Chains, Global Workers: Warehouse Workers’ Experience of Globalized Labor Processes and Transnational Class Relations Abstract Transnational class formation, by definition, implies that both sides of the labor-capital relation undergo transformations in the experience of class-life as it unfolds in spatial and productive contexts. While theoretical progress on the features of the global working class has been made, there has been relatively little empirical research on this topic. This paper fills this gap by examining the lived experiences of workers engaged in transnational commodity circuits in order to flesh out the emergent features of a transnational proletariat. I focus on the shop floor relationships and conditions experienced by workers in the logistics industry of Southern California. Evidence from semi-structured interviews with warehouse and distribution center workers — individuals who labor in facilities that form key nodes in global commodity circuits — illuminates transnational labor-capital relations, the relationships that workers have with one another in local and cross-border circumstances, and management’s attempted exploitation of divisions between diasporic and static fractions of the transnational working class. LABOR STUDIES STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION Deadline 1/31/13 One of the most important activities of the Labor Studies Division is to recognize the work of graduate students.  As in the past, the division is soliciting graduate student papers that build on the legacy of the late Harry Braverman.  The Award consists of a $200 cash prize and a ticket to the annual SSSP awards banquet.  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 a committee composed of at least three Labor Studies Division faculty scholars.  E-mail your paper and a short letter of submission identifying your graduate program to: Ted Brimeyer, tbrimeyer@georgiasouthern.edu. 2013 Labor Studies Sponsored and Co-Sponsored Sessions Session #2 The Social Economy and Justice - Community Research and Development Session #4 Community Groups: Bridging Racial and Class Divisions - Community Research and Development and Ethnic Minorities Session #20 The Intersections of Disability and Work – Disabilities and Labor Studies Session #49 Gender and Globalization – Global and Labor Studies Session #61 Management and Ruling Relations – Institutional Ethnography and LS Session #65 CRITICAL DIALOGUES: Worker Rights in the 21st Century: Overcoming Barriers and Reimagining Opportunities – THEMATIC LS The International Labor Organization lists four fundamental principles and rights at work: 1. Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collectively bargain 2. Elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor 3. Effective abolition of child labor 4. Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation The critical dialogue format is designed to have 8 presenters give short (5 minute) presentations and then open it up for a dialogue between the presenters and the audience. I would like the session to address barriers to workplace rights that have been overcome and ways in which the barriers that still exist can be overcome. I only ask that participants focus on 1 of the four rights. Session #66 Worker and Labor Activism - LS Session #115 Graduate Student Teaching: Work and Workers – Teaching Social Problems Session #119 Work Across the Life Course – Youth, Aging, and the Life Course Recent Member Publications Brimeyer, T. M., Muschert, G. L., and Lippman, S. (2012). Longitudinal Modeling of Frame Changing and Media Salience: Coverage of Worker Displacement, 1980-2007. International Journal of Communication, 6 (2012), 2094-2116. Carolyn Cummings Perrucci and Robert Perrucci, “Jobs for America,” in Glenn Muschert, et. Al (eds.), Agenda for Social Justice: Solutions 2012. University of Tennessee, Society for the Study of Social Problems. Patrick F. Gillham, Bob Edwards and John Noakes (2012). “Strategic Incapacitation and the Policing of Occupy Wall Street Protests In New York City, 2011.” Police and Society, forthcoming (online version available since 27 Sep – DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2012.727607). Until the print version of the article becomes available interested colleagues may access the abstract and download the article at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10439463.2012.727607. Haney, Timothy J. 2011. The Geographic Context of 'Personal Responsibility': The Spatiality of Employment & Welfare Receipt among Unmarried Urban Women. Women's Health and Urban Life, Vol 10 (2), pg 13-36 (former winner of the Harry Braverman Award) Writers of the United States’ punitive 1996 welfare reform law assumed that women receiving government assistance transfers simply lacked motivation. This assumption ignores the myriad of individual and spatial barriers to employment that women face. Yet existing literature usually ignores the neighbourhoods in which women live. This research fills the gap by analyzing the extent to which both individual barriers to employment (health, childcare responsibilities, etc.) and neighbourhood characteristics are associated with employment and AFDC use just before welfare reform. Using data from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality, analyses indicate the significance of several neighbourhood-level, contextual barriers to employment. Results lend support to the role of health problems in preventing employment and increasing AFDC use, as well as several neighbourhood conditions including participant-observed disorder, neighbourhood joblessness, and the median age of neighbourhood structures. The paper concludes by discussing implications for social science theory, future research and public policy. Payne, Julianne, Steve McDonald and Lindsay Hamm. Forthcoming. “Production Teams and Producing Racial Diversity in Workplace Relationships.” Sociological Forum. According to the editor, we are slated for publication in the June 2013 issue (Volume 28, Number 2). Robert Perrucci, “Too Big to Fail: A Network Perspective,“ International Journal of Contemporary Sociology, Oct. 2011: 251-278. Melissa Stacer and Robert Perrucci, “Parental Involvement with Children at School, Home, and Community,” Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Sept. 2012. Mangala Subramanium, Robert Perrucci, and David Whitlock, “Intellectual Closure: A Theoretical Framework Linking Knowledge, Power, and the Corporate University,”Critical Sociology, forthcoming.   Chris Rhomberg's op-ed, "America Would Be Better Off With More Strikes," was published on CNN.com on September 10.http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/10/opinion/rhomberg-unions-strikes/ (CNN has copyright, so I can't reproduce the article, but here is the link.) ------------ Peggy Wireman. Connecting the Dots: Government, Community and Family (Transaction Books) Now available as an E-book for $15.   WANT A CONTEXT FOR STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEWS? WANT TO GIVE THEM A BASIS FOR EVALUATING NEW BOOKS AND ARTICLES? WANT A BASIS FOR DESIGNING FIELD PROJECTS AND RESEARCH? CONNECTING THE DOTS: GOVERNMENT, COMMUNITY AND FAMILY PROVIDES IT ALL: A way to talk about race Myths about families that drive our policies and programs. Why we have great income inequality—how we got here and what can be done about it. What jobs don’t pay a living wage. What communities can do to help families accomplish basic tasks: obtaining an income, housing, health care, taking care of their homes and children. Changes needed in our federal policies to support family values. CONFERENCE The United Association for Labor Education Conference will be held April 17-20 in Toronto. Here is the web link: http://uale.org/conference/conference-2013 POSITIONS OF INTEREST TO MEMBERS Assistant Professor, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Sociology) The New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University invites applications for the tenure track position of Assistant Professor in Sociology with an emphasis on structures of class inequality. Applicants must have expertise in class inequality in global contexts, including the U.S. Of particular interest are scholars who explore inequality using historic, comparative, extended case and/or institutional ethnographic methods in their research. To qualify applicants must have a PhD in Sociology by August, 2013, evidence of an ongoing research program and level of publication consistent with experience, and evidence of successful college/university teaching.    Application procedure: Send the following items electronically to Jamie Howell at NewCollegeJobs@asu.edu: 1) a letter of application, 2) a current curriculum vitae, 3) three samples of scholarly work; 4) teaching evaluations or other evidence of teaching accomplishment; and 5) the names and contact information for three references (references will not be contacted without candidate notification). Application deadline is January 7, 2013; if not filled, applications will be reviewed weekly thereafter until the search is closed. For complete application information and requirements seehttp://newcollege.asu.edu/jobs. Arizona State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.  ASU’s complete non-discrimination statement may be found at:  https://www.asu.edu/titleIX. Wayne State University: Department Chair, Department of Sociology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences   The Department of Sociology at Wayne State University invites applications for a Professor and Department Chair to begin fall 2013.  We are seeking an active scholar who has the experience, vision and energy to take the department to a new level. Area of expertise is open, but preference will be given to candidates whose research agenda fits within one of the department’s current concentrations in the areas of medical sociology and urban sociology. In addition to administrative experience, we seek candidates with a strong research record, a record of external funding, and demonstrated excellence in teaching. The Chair is designated as the chief academic officer of the department and should have credentials which demonstrate a distinguished record of scholarly achievement, broad appreciation of programmatic research and a strong commitment toward graduate and undergraduate education. Moreover, this individual will be responsible for recruiting, evaluating and directing faculty; coordinating and supervising departmental programs and activities; acting as a liaison to other units within the university; forging external and internal ties for research; actively pursuing external funding; and teaching and providing a supportive teaching environment. The Department of Sociology offers BA, MA and Ph.D degrees with concentrations in medical sociology, urban/labor sociology, and race and gender inequalities.  The department is committed to offering a broad learning experience that enables an understanding of how social institutions and patterns of social interaction shape individual lives and prepares students for careers inside and outside of academia.  The department is currently composed of 12 tenured and tenure-track faculty, and serves nearly 200 undergraduate majors and 100 graduate students. Wayne State University is dedicated to preparing students to excel by combining the academic excellence of a major research university with the practical experience of an institution that by its history, location and diversity represents a microcosm of the world in which we live. Founded in 1868, Wayne State is a Carnegie RU/VH institution offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students. Wayne State’s main campus in Midtown Detroit comprises 100 buildings over nearly 200 acres; its five extension centers offer higher education to people throughout Southeast Michigan. Wayne State boasts the most diverse student body among Michigan’s public universities.  Its students represent 49 U. S. states and more than 60 countries. Additional information about Wayne State University and the Department of Sociology can be obtained from the following websites:  www.wayne.edu andhttp://clasweb.clas.wayne.edu/Sociology.  Applicants should submit a letter of interest, current  CV, and the names and contact information of three professional references (letters of reference will be requested at a later date) to Douglas Whitman, Ph.D, Chair, Search Committee, Sociology, 2228 F/AB, 656 W. Kirby St., Detroit, MI  48202.  PDF versions may be submitted to sociologychair@wayne.edu.  Review of applications will begin November 15, 2012 and continue until the position is filled.Applicants will also be required to officially apply on-line and instructions for that process will be sent to all applicants. Wayne State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity employer 1