OOW Book Discussion (Apr 15): “Coerced: Work Under Threat of Punishment”

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All OOW members are invited to participate in an informal, online discussion of Erin Hatton’s Coerced: Work Under Threat of Punishment on April 15nd, 12-1pm EST. The conversation will be “book club style”, with everyone welcome to share ideas. (If you’d like to participate but time is short, focus on the introduction & chapter 2.) The book may be available as an e-book from your library, or you can purchase it here.

We hope students and faculty alike come to discuss and meet with fellow OOW members. To register and receive a zoom link, click here.

Questions? Contact Laura Doering (laura.doering@utoronto.ca).

Announcement: Contemporary Capitalism through the Lens of Institutions, SER Cafe, March 14th, 2024

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Featuring a conversation with SER authors Carly R. Knight (New York University), and Ann-Christine Schulz (Institute for Digital Transformation and Strategy) and Alexander Himme (Kuehne Logistics University)

Join us for a discussion of contemporary capitalism through institutional studies. Knight, in “Classifying the corporation: the role of naturalizing analogies in American corporate development, 1870–1930,” traces the history of the classification of the corporation and finds that the symbolic privatization of the corporation was the joint product of both liberal and progressive legal theorizing. The “naturalizing analogies” employed by theorists, Knight argues, are critical to understanding the symbolic structure of corporate capitalism. Schulz and Himme, in “Stock market reactions to downsizing announcements: an analysis through an institutional lens”, examine stock market reactions to corporate downsizing using a neo-institutional perspective and demonstrate the performance effects of corporate downsizing and investors’ role in legitimizing this prevalent business practice.

Come and join us to discuss how to understand the current state of capitalism and inequalities from the angle of institutions. The event will take place on Thursday, March 14th, at 8AM PST/11AM EST/4PM CET. Register at this link!

As with all SER Cafe events, we will facilitate a dynamic conversation with the authors. No lengthy talks. Our authors look forward to your questions and comments.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: 11h edition of the Ethnography Workshop, ESADE Business School, May 6-7, Barcelona

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We are pleased to announce that the 11th edition of the Ethnography Workshop will be hosted by ESADE Business School, on May 6 and 7, 2024, in Barcelona, Spain.

This workshop, created in 2013, is designed as a convivial space where you can share the peripeties of your ethnographic journey and think both through and beyond your observation with an interdisciplinary group of scholars (e.g., Management, Sociology, Anthropology, Entrepreneurship).

The workshop aims to foster a space for experimentation, play, and critique to engage ethnographically on a wide variety of topics. Discussing empirics, reflexive matters, issues of engagement and relationships with the field, are central to our conversations.

Participation is free of charge, and refreshments and meals are provided but participants are expected to cover their travel and accommodation expenses. Three emlyon Ethnography Institute grants of 500 euros are available to support participants with limited funding.

  • Abstract (500 words) are due by March 1st, 2024, to blum@em-lyon.com.
  • Notification of acceptance on March 18th and full paper due by April 28th.

More info here: https://oce.em-lyon.com/2023/06/19/ethnoworkshop/

Job Posting: The Climate Jobs Institute is seeking to hire up to 4 Research Specialists

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The Climate Jobs Institute, housed in the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois, is seeking to hire up to 4 Research Specialists. We are looking for a Senior Research Specialist and up to three Research Specialists. Research specialists will conduct research at the intersection of climate change, job creation, and economic development.

CJI was established by the Illinois General Assembly in 2022 to support Illinois with its clean energy transition through applied research related to workforce needs and economic development. We plan to work closely with state agencies and other partners to build our research agenda. Our goal is to conduct research that influences policy, evaluates what is and isn’t working, and recommends strategies to improve the implementation of state policy and workforce development programs (among other things).

 Here are the links to the postings:

 Senior Research Specialist: https://illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/9469?c=illinois

3 Research Specialists: https://illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/9546?c=illinois

 For more information about the Climate Jobs Institute, check out our website:

https://ler.illinois.edu/climate-jobs-institute

ASA job banks postings:

Senior Research Specialist: https://my.asanet.org/Job-Bank-Information/Job-Bank/JBctl/ViewJob/JobID/19958

Three Research Specialists: https://my.asanet.org/Job-Bank-Information/Job-Bank/JBctl/ViewJob/JobID/19957

New Book—”The Manufacturing of Job Displacement: How Racial Capitalism Drives Immigrant and Gender Inequality in the Labor Market” by Laura López-Sanders

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López-Sanders, Laura. 2024. The Manufacturing of Job Displacement: How Racial Capitalism Drives Immigrant and Gender Inequality in the Labor Market. New York University Press.

The employer-driven push to systematically replace Black workers with unauthorized immigrants.

In The Manufacturing of Job Displacement, Laura López-Sanders argues that the walls of American businesses hide a system of illegal practices and behaviors that lead to racial inequality in the labor market. Drawing on extensive research in South Carolina manufacturing facilities, nearly 300 interviews, and her own experience working at both the “bottom” of the labor market (e.g., cleaning toilets and on assembly-line jobs) and in mid-level supervisory positions, López-Sanders provides a behind-the-scenes accounting of daily factory life.

She uncovers preferential hiring practices that fly in the face of civil rights legislation barring employment discrimination, including orchestrated actions of employers to systematically replace Black workers with Hispanic unauthorized immigrants. López-Sanders argues against the predominant view that worker displacement occurs primarily because of hiring biases or social networks. Instead, she shows that employers intervene strategically, relying on subcontractors, agencies, and intermediaries to shift the race and gender in an organization. They also use vulnerable and tractable immigrant labor to impose and justify untenable standards that drive native-born workers out of their jobs and create vacancies to be filled by additional immigrant workers. The Manufacturing of Job Displacement sheds new light on a classic question about ethnic succession and segmentation in the labor market and reorients the ongoing debates about the economic impact of immigration.

New Book—”Saving Societies From Within: Innovation and Equity Through Inter-Organizational Networks” by Jerald Hage, Joseph J. Valadez, and Wilbur C. Hadden

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Saving Societies From Within: Innovation and Equity Through Inter-Organizational Networks that provides a new paradigm for sociology built on the idea of societal coordination via systemic coordinated inter-organizational networks or SCIONs These offer the possibility of creating much more organizational change and especially organizational adaptiveness than either coordination by markets or states (elections and regulations).  They build cooperation and provide a platform for learning including the tacit knowledge associated with different approaches to achieving the overall goals.

The book contains a detailed case study that provides lessons for managers interested in innovation and development.  The specific case is how NicaSalud, a SCION formed by USAID, rebuilt the health care system in Nicaragua after Hurricane Mitch, a major disaster.  It demonstrates not only how an inter-organizational network created an atmosphere of learning but also organizational adaptiveness. The study then examines how the amount of adaptiveness improved the effectiveness of the network. This research is also unusual in considering several other ways to measure inter-organizational network effectiveness, thus making a contribution to the inter-organizational network literature.

Qualitative Interviewer/Temporary and Remote

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Duties and Essential Job Functions

The successful candidate will assist the Comparative Disinformation Project team, led by Dr. Jen Schradie, at CRIS (Center for Research on Social Inequalities) at Sciences Po Paris. This position is based in the United States. Tasks include (though not limited to) the following: 

  • Conduct in-depth qualitative online interviews with pre-selected respondents
  • Write fieldnotes based on the interviews
  • Coordinate, organize, and send interview files, respecting anonymity and confidentiality
  • Participate in trainings, meetings, and other types of communication

Required Qualifications

  • Demonstrated past experience and formal training in conducting sociological interviews
  • Can implement semi-structured interviewing techniques, like trust-building and probing
  • Ability to work independently and is a self-starter
  • Experience with collaborations and working in teams
  • Communication skills on all levels (in-person, phone, online)
  • Good time management skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Fluent in English

Additional Requirements

  • Have at the minimum a masters degree in sociology, communication, or related field. PhD students (and beyond) are also welcome to apply
  • Must be generally available and flexible for training and interviews during the times outlined below
  • Must be available for some morning meeting times if based in the U.S. (given time zone difference with France)
  • Must have a quiet, private, and digitally connected space available for interviews

Start date and length of contract

  • During a 10-week period in the spring (tentatively starting mid-April)
  • Total of 120-170 hours, depending on the final number of respondents/interview lengths 
  • 20 hours per week at the minimum, but we will negotiate based on the candidate’s circumstances

Position and Compensation

Sciences Po will pay between 25 and 35 dollars per hour, depending on the candidate’s previous experience. A service agreement will be signed between the parties.

Additional information

To apply, please submit a cover letter and CV, as well as three references (name, title, email, and phone number) by filling this online form. Deadline is March 12, 2024 by 9am. Contact: Alexia Vallenas Wiesse: alexia.vallenaswiesse@sciencespo.fr  

ASA Political Sociology Section 2024 Election Series

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The ASA Political Sociology Section is excited to launch its 2024 virtual talk series, focused on the U.S. election. During this year, we will gather panels featuring sociologists in and outside of academia working on issues vital to U.S. and global politics. 

Our first event on Wednesday March 6, 3:30pm Eastern Time will be a panel discussion on white Christian nationalism and how class, race, religion, and region intersect in Americans’ ideas about hierarchy and their political beliefs. We will feature research and perspectives from Victoria Asbury (Harvard), Luisa Godinez-Puig (The Urban Institute) and Samuel Perry (University of Oklahoma). 

Additional panels on war & conflict, elite politics, and voter participation & turnout will be announced throughout the year. Please use this form to RSVP and/or sign up for email updates on these events. Zoom links and additional announcements will be circulated to those who have signed up. Thank you for your interest!

Organizers: Daniel Laurison, Jennifer Dudley, Jennifer Heerwig, Wendy Li

Event: OOW Virtual Panel on Racialized and Gendered Organizations

On By Julia DessauerIn Announcements, symposiumLeave a comment

Join our lively discussion of the ways sociology can move the study of work and occupations towards more intersectional understandings of inequality at work and in workplaces, in worker’s experiences, and in theoretical and practical diversity.

DATE: Thursday, March 7, 2024
TIME: Noon – 1pm (ET)
LINK: https://wsu.zoom.us/j/99023987599 , Meeting ID: 990 2398 7599

PANELISTS:
Dr. Sharla Alegria, University of Toronto. Her research is primarily concerned with understanding how inequalities, particularly those at the intersections of gender and race persist in institutions and organizations that reject discrimination and make commitments to equity. Her work connects technology, its applications, and the conditions in which it was developed to better understand the persistence of race and gender inequalities in technologies and the workplaces that produce them.

Dr. Koji Chavez, Indiana University. His research is focused on gender and racial inequalities in the labor market and in the workplace. Much of his research centers specifically on discrimination in the hiring process, trends in discrimination, and is developing a theory of diversity commodification which explains how the corporate drive to diversify the workforce affects patterns of gender and racial discrimination in software engineering hiring.

Maritess Escueta, University of Delaware. Her research considers how workplace organizations reproduce gender and racial inequality, particularly in the tech industry. Her current research project examines how formalized performance evaluation processes are used to maintain race, class, and gender divisions between workers.

Bonnie Siegler, Columbia University. She studies diversity and equity discourses in education and DEI work and workers in schools. Her dissertation investigates U.S. school district commitments to racial equity in 2020 and the relationship between racial equity statements and organizational legitimacy.

Moderated by Dr. Julie Kmec, Washington State University

Visitorship opportunity: The American Bar Foundation

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The American Bar Foundation is currently accepting applications for two visitorship opportunities to join our diverse interdisciplinary community of sociolegal researchers: 

  • The William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law is a year-long residential appointment,awarded to an outstanding scholar with a distinguished record of empirical socio-legal research on diversity and law, broadly conceived. The Neukom Chair carries no formal teaching or service responsibilities; however, the successful candidate is expected to spend the fellowship year in residence at the ABF offices on Northwestern University’s downtown Chicago campus, and to participate in the ABF’s expanding program of research and dialogue on diversity and law. Along with office space, opportunities for collegial interaction, and library access, the Neukom Chair also receives a modest research allowance and a stipend of up to $100,000, which is intended to compensate for foregone salary and will be adjusted based on the candidate’s access to sabbatical pay and/or third-party funding. Applications for the 2024-25 Neukom Chair will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, beginning February 15 and continuing until the position is filled. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply at https://american-bar-foundation.breezy.hr/p/3f127096e16e-william-h-neukom-fellows-research-chair-in-diversity-and-law.
  • ABF Visiting Scholars join the ABF for all or part of the year. We encourage national and international scholars on leave or sabbatical to take advantage of our diverse socio-legal community and excellent facilities. ABF Visiting Scholars enjoy an office or workspace, opportunities for collegial interaction, and library access, but no stipend. Applications for our 2024-25 cohort of Visiting Scholars are open through March 1. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply at https://american-bar-foundation.breezy.hr/p/bd39aac50ff9-visiting-scholar.

Both positions are open to scholars in all social-science disciplines, law, and the social-science adjacent humanities, regardless of institutional appointment. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to the ABF, so we enthusiastically encourage applicants from historically underrepresented groups and backgrounds.

More information about both opportunities can be found at the links above; but please feel free to contact Jessie Lowinger (jlowinger@abfn.org) if you have any questions.