Southwest Labor Studies Association
36th Annual Conference May 7-8, 2010
University of California, Santa Cruz
Call for papers, workshops and presentations
Labor and Immigration: Past and Present
Featuring: Plenary Sessions on Labor and U.S. Immigration Policy and on Immigrant Worker Organizing in Silicon Valley and the Monterey Bay area
From the nineteenth century to the present, the histories of labor and immigration in the U.S. have been thoroughly intertwined. High levels of immigration and the emergence of new forms of immigrant activism in recent years have transformed the terrain of labor organizing and prompted a radical rethinking of the U.S. labor movement's stance on immigration policy. We invite proposals from scholars and from labor, immigrant, and community activists for panels, interactive workshops, performances, displays, art, film, and music that explore these issues in the present and examine their roots in the past. Presentations on all other topics related to working-class history and labor studies are also welcome.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Historical perspectives on the immigrant character of the U.S. working class
- Historical and contemporary discussions of immigrant worker organizing -Organizing in the Santa Clara Valley and the Monterey Bay area
- Nativist movements and their impact on workers and labor organizations
- Impact of current immigration policies on workers and labor organizations
- Labor law and the working conditions experienced by immigrants
- Labor aspects of the current immigrant detention system
- Impact of the broader immigrant rights struggle on the labor movement
- Gender, race, and sexuality in immigrant labor organizing -Youth and student activism in support of immigrant and labor struggles
Proposal deadline is January 15, 2010. Please send a short (1-2 paragraph) proposal including the name and contact information of the participants to [mailto]ihr@ucsc.edu[/mailto]. The proposal document should be a PDF file and the email containing it should have 'SWLSA Proposal' clearly marked in the Subject Line. For more information contact David Brundage at [mailto]brundage@ucsc.edu[/mailto] or Pedro Castillo at [mailto]pcastle@ucsc.edu[/mailto].