Since a young age, I have been deeply interested in issues of social justice. This led me to become an anthropology major as an undergrad and later a professional sociologist. By giving us a big picture view of how societies work, social science can help us understand both the causes of and solutions to social injustices. I have also been active in various social movements, with my experiences informing my scholarly work—and my scholarly work influencing my strategic thinking in my activism.
As a sociologist, my goals in doing my own research and in teaching my students are to promote my own and others’ understanding of the structural causes of social injustice, development of empathy for those from all walks of life, creation and evaluation of innovative social policy, and effective movement-building, all necessary in creating a better world. In teaching my students, I make extensive use of discussion exercises such as case studies that encourage students to think through issues of social policies and movement-building in practical terms, asking them what they would do in specific circumstances.
Through my studies, my own research, and teaching, I have developed expertise in a number of areas, including social movements, globalization, labor rights and labor movements, political economy and political sociology, social and economic inequality, international development, and social theory.
In a number of the activist groups I have been a member of, we did not always know how to develop an effective movement strategy. This led me to my dissertation research on United Students Against Sweatshops, since they were a group that had been highly effective and strategically savvy. The result was my 2020 book, Strategizing Against Sweatshops. While it is difficult to name good principles of strategy since they are so context dependent, there are principles of good strategic decision-making—having a clear sense of your values, carefully reflecting on your experience, and making decisions through an inclusive, democratic process.
In addition to my research and teaching on movement-building and social policy, I have been active in such efforts myself. I am one of the leaders of the non-tenure track faculty union at Loyola University Chicago. As a result of our labor organizing, we have won better job security and better pay for all our members; and a path that can potentially lead to full-time positions for our part-time members. We are continuing to work on getting health benefits for our part-time members and more work-life balance for our full-time members.
I am also serving on the University Senate as a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. We spent my first year as a Senator restructuring the Senate, to move it from being an organization that primarily represented faculty to one that equally represents all major constituencies on campus, faculty, staff, and students.
