Description
We propose a symposium exploring the debates among "labor intellectuals." By "labor intellectuals," we mean activists and policymakers who sought to develop and implement a sustainable model for labor power. US examples include Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor, left wing New Deal critic Mary Van Kleeck, Walter Reuther's strategist Nat Weinberg, labor lawyer and sociologist Staughton Lynd, among more contemporary figures. Andre Gorz and Ken Coates are European exemplars. In New Men of Power, C. Wright Mills (2001) defined the "labor intellectuals" as researchers associated with unions or labor-based organizations. One fundamental axis upon which to compare these thinkers is their perspectives on state capacity to guarantee worker rights (the Wagner Act framework in the US.).While Perkins built on her experience in New York State regulating labor standards and played a leadership role on New Deal labor policy, Mary Van Kleeck opposed the Wagner Act and wrote presciently about the ease with which its support for labor might be undermined. We will employ a "critical biography" template. This approach suggests five emphases for research: the subject's values and background, considerations of personal identity, important roles, contributions to theory and practice, and the social and historic context. For labor studies questions, one issue is the subject's expectations of the likely performance of public and private hierarchies. We will investigate the process by which each individual learned to imagine an alternative to unaccountable hierarchies and turned to organizing these alternatives. A prerequisite for assuming the labor advocate role is consciousness of the contingency of organizational hierarchy.The Wagner Act Framework: the Sisyphean Slope? / Author: David Jacobs, American U., Kogod School of Business
Florence Kelley and the National Consumers League / Author: Richard Marens, California State U. Sacramento
Suehiro Izutaro and Japan's Innovative Employment Ecology / Author: Charles Thomas Tackney, Copenhagen Business School.
| Period | 13 Aug 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event title | The Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2024: Innovating for the Future: Policy, Purpose, and Organizations |
| Event type | Conference |
| Conference number | 84 |
| Location | Chicago, United States, IllinoisShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |