“We allowed ourselves to accept middle-class prejudices against the labor movement…In shunning it, we have lost an opportunity. Let us try to regain it now, at a time when the joint forces of Negroes and labor may be facing a historic task of social reform.”
Yup. Any way you put it -- be it the Selznick (1957) style "capture" of diversity work by uni president interests [sociology], or an intra-org variant of Pfeiffer & Salancik (1978) "resource dependence" [Org Behavior], or a case of the Briscoe & Gupta (2016) dilemma facing "insider activists" for social movements [Social Movement theorists] --> you are making a major contribution. The at-will employment status, a dependence mechanism, is answered by unionization. You're making theoretical and practical contributions that several fields need to hear.
Thanks for the thought-provoking article. I agree with your points in favor of unionization as an anti-racist tool. One question that I have is whether there is any evidence that unionized workplaces are more racially equitable than non-unionized workplaces. In the words, do African Americans advance to higher positions, experience fewer incidences of racial discrimination, etc. in unionized workplaces than in non-unionized ones? If so, that could be a valuable addition to your dissertation.
Hey Cedric. Happy to hear that you are setting a date! Congrats! As Shannon said, seems we are still lacking evidence that unionized workplaces have less racial inequalities, whothout which it's impossible to say that unionization can count as anti racisism. To your specific thesis, "one way to be an antiracist is to support the unionization," seems to me to be useful to think of what anti racism and unionization have in common. My sense is, neither are something you can do on your own. It's not about what any individuals do, be it in terms of workplace organizing or anti racism. They are both by their nature collective endeavors that require people to deal with structures/patterns that exist beyond (and in spite of) any individual actor. Someone individually can do the work to become the most anti racist individual ever, but that doesn't mean anything for racial structures generally. Racial inequalities will continue to be reproduced despite how great of an individual I am. Same with unions; together we bargain, alone we beg. All this to say, one of the conclusions I come to as I read your post is that curbing the reproduction racial inequalities in orgs isn't about educating people on microagreasions or putting the right people in the right positions. Being anti racist requires collective action. Otherwise it's like trying to fix the problems created by capitalism by buying "fair trade" coffee. Would love to chat if you are interested, I need reasons to procrastinate prepping for this semester...
Yup. Any way you put it -- be it the Selznick (1957) style "capture" of diversity work by uni president interests [sociology], or an intra-org variant of Pfeiffer & Salancik (1978) "resource dependence" [Org Behavior], or a case of the Briscoe & Gupta (2016) dilemma facing "insider activists" for social movements [Social Movement theorists] --> you are making a major contribution. The at-will employment status, a dependence mechanism, is answered by unionization. You're making theoretical and practical contributions that several fields need to hear.
This King quote is 🔥🔥
Thanks for the thought-provoking article. I agree with your points in favor of unionization as an anti-racist tool. One question that I have is whether there is any evidence that unionized workplaces are more racially equitable than non-unionized workplaces. In the words, do African Americans advance to higher positions, experience fewer incidences of racial discrimination, etc. in unionized workplaces than in non-unionized ones? If so, that could be a valuable addition to your dissertation.
Hey Cedric. Happy to hear that you are setting a date! Congrats! As Shannon said, seems we are still lacking evidence that unionized workplaces have less racial inequalities, whothout which it's impossible to say that unionization can count as anti racisism. To your specific thesis, "one way to be an antiracist is to support the unionization," seems to me to be useful to think of what anti racism and unionization have in common. My sense is, neither are something you can do on your own. It's not about what any individuals do, be it in terms of workplace organizing or anti racism. They are both by their nature collective endeavors that require people to deal with structures/patterns that exist beyond (and in spite of) any individual actor. Someone individually can do the work to become the most anti racist individual ever, but that doesn't mean anything for racial structures generally. Racial inequalities will continue to be reproduced despite how great of an individual I am. Same with unions; together we bargain, alone we beg. All this to say, one of the conclusions I come to as I read your post is that curbing the reproduction racial inequalities in orgs isn't about educating people on microagreasions or putting the right people in the right positions. Being anti racist requires collective action. Otherwise it's like trying to fix the problems created by capitalism by buying "fair trade" coffee. Would love to chat if you are interested, I need reasons to procrastinate prepping for this semester...