Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper examines the “union-centric” character of the sociology of labor revitalization and the analytic problems that result from it. Specifically, the tendency of labor scholars to focus primarily on unions may lead to excluding from research and theorizing, the contributions being made by community-based labor organizations operating outside the collective bargaining framework. Using the Garment Worker Center in Los Angeles as an example, I show that trade unions are not the only organizational form the labor movement might take. And that alternative forms are well-suited to organize in industries such as apparel manufacturing, where collective bargaining is not viable. I conclude by calling for a more expansive conceptualization of the labor movement in order to capture the innovations taking place in the space between unions.