Working History

Working History
  • 4.8 (30)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED SEMIMONTHLY
Working History

Working History spotlights the work of leading labor historians, activists, and practitioners focusing especially on the U.S. and global Souths, to inform public debate and dialogue about current labor, economic, and political issues with the benefit of historical context.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    Fall for Liberation with Maria Harmon

    Step Up Louisiana co-founder and co-director Maria Harmon joins the podcast to talk about the group’s Freedom Summer-inspired voter turnout campaigns and grassroots mobilization efforts in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Jefferson Parish, New Orleans’ proposed Workers Bill of Rights, and the future of economic and education justice organizing in Louisiana.

    29 min

  2. OCT 7

    Organizing Faculty in Florida with Paul Ortiz

    Dr. Paul Ortiz, a professor of labor history at Cornell’s ILR School, joins co-host Olivia Paschal to discuss the history of higher education labor organizing in Florida, the resurgence of right-wing and austerity politics in public universities, and Dr. Ortiz’s work in higher education labor organizing. Until last year, Dr. Ortiz was a professor of history and director of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida, where he spent fifteen years. Dr. Ortiz is also the past president of United Faculty of Florida-UF and has organized with the United Farm Workers, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, and other labor organizing groups. His books include An African American and Latinx History of the United States and Emancipation Betrayed. Correction: In the episode, Olivia says that public-sector workers in Virginia can't collectively bargain. While that is true for state-level public sector workers (like university employees), collective bargaining is possible on the local level thanks to a 2020 law that gives local governments and school boards the authority to allow collective bargaining. Collective bargaining for all!

    35 min

  3. SEP 24

    The Present and Future of Southern Labor: The UAW’s Historic Win at Volkswagen

    Earlier this year, workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted to join the UAW in a landslide. The Southern Labor Studies Association held our biannual meeting at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga last week, just as UAW Local 42 began negotiating its first contract. This panel, recorded live at the conference, is moderated by labor journalist Sarah Jaffe and features Zach Costello of UAW Local 42’s organizing committee; Chris Brooks, chief strategist at the UAW; Michael Gilliland, the organizing director of CALEB in Chattanooga; and labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein.

    1h 15m

  4. APR 11

    Beyond Norma Rae

    Welcome to a new season of Working History! Series co-host Dave Anderson talks with Aimee Loiselle about her book Beyond Norma Rae: How Puerto Rican and Southern White Women Fought for a Place in the American Working Class

    51 min

  5. 11/16/2023

    Southern Exposure at 50: Sue Thrasher, Bob Hall, and Leah Wise

    This week’s episode features a panel recorded live at the fiftieth anniversary celebration of Southern Exposure magazine, held in March at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s Wilson Library. The panel, which reflects on the founding of the Institute for Southern Studies and the creation of Southern Exposure, features Sue Thrasher, a co-founder of the Institute who later worked at the Highlander Center; Leah Wise, one of the Institute’s early staff members and later the director of Southerners for Economic Justice; and Bob Hall, the founding editor of Southern Exposure, who spent many years at the Institute and was the longtime executive director of Democracy North Carolina. It is moderated by Chip Hughes, an early Institute staffer himself and occupational health and safety organizer before a career in public health. Produced in partnership with the Institute for Southern Studies. Show Notes: Episode transcription: https://www.facingsouth.org/2023/11/why-we-did-what-we-did-reflections-sue-thrasher-leah-wise-and-bob-hall Visit the Southern Exposure digital archive: https://www.facingsouth.org/southern-exposure A note from the archives editor: https://www.facingsouth.org/2023/03/archive-time-crisis More about the 50th anniversary event: https://www.facingsouth.org/2023/03/gathering-marks-half-century-southern-exposures-founding

    1h 11m

  6. 11/07/2023

    Resident Strangers: Immigrant Laborers in New South Alabama

    Jennifer Brooks, Professor of History at Auburn University, discusses her book Resident Strangers: Immigrant Laborers in New South Alabama, beginning with the book's origin story and then explaining the significance of Chinese and European immigrants in the New South and their interactions with employers, unions, African-Americans, the region's racial regime, and its legal system.

    57 min

  7. 07/02/2023

    Working in the Magic City: Moral Economy in Early Twentieth-Century Miami

    Thomas Castillo discusses his book Working in the Magic City: Moral Economy in Early Twentieth-Century Miami, beginning with the book’s origin story, and then tracing Miami's working-class history from World War I to the mid-1930s.

    57 min

  8. 03/01/2023

    Freedom's Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power

    Jefferson Cowie discusses his book Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power, beginning with the book’s origin story, and then tracing the use of "freedom" to dominate others in Barbour County, Alabama, from Indian Removal in the 1830s through the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s Find information about the book at the publisher’s page. https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/jefferson-cowie/freedoms-dominion/9781541672819/ Find the New York Times review of the book. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/12/books/review/freedoms-dominion-jefferson-cowie.html

    53 min
See All (55)

4.8
out of 5
30 Ratings

About

Working History spotlights the work of leading labor historians, activists, and practitioners focusing especially on the U.S. and global Souths, to inform public debate and dialogue about current labor, economic, and political issues with the benefit of historical context.

Information

  • Creator
    Working History
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2024
  • Episodes
    55
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Working History

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada