For a Union, Passivity Equates to a Loss of Collective Bargaining Rights

Yesterday’s NLRB’s decision on the collective-bargaining rights of employees hired through “temp” agencies has meant that very little attention has been paid to a decision handed down yesterday by an NLRB Administrative Law Judge. Although the change in how contingent employees are defined has potentially broad direct ramifications and signals an important, fundamental shift in…

Darryl Dawkins, RIP

When I was in graduate school at Lehigh University, Darryl Dawkins was playing professional basketball for the Philadelphia 76ers. He was part of the team assembled around Julius Erving and coached by Billy Cunningham, and they were among the best teams in the league year after year, in a few instances coming tantalizing close to…

Faculty Statement on Narendra Modi Visit to Silicon Valley

As faculty who engage South Asia in our research and teaching, we write to express our concerns about the uncritical fanfare being generated over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley to promote “Digital India” on September 27, 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley highlights the role of a country that…

Must-See Video: The Yes Men Pose as Members of the Iowa Regents’ Efficiency Review Committee

The Yes Men — whose slogan is “impersonating big-time criminals in order to publicly humiliate them, and otherwise giving journalists excuses to cover important issues” — delivered a satirical speech yesterday at the Iowa City Public Library wherein they posed as representatives of the Iowa Regents, as well as the private consulting firm that is doing the…

On the Run: Sociology, Journalism or What?

When I first heard of Alice Goffman’s On the Run a year or so ago, it didn’t pass my personal ‘smell test’ so I ignored it. After all, my early training was as a journalist and my idea of what constitutes publishable research and information is based in that professional ethos. I was a nightside…