“Race, Immigration, and the Law of the Workplace: 21st Century Challenges,” Public Conference, February 26-27th
Noted legal scholars and social scientists will join in a two-day public conference at Princeton University entitled “Race, Immigration, and the Law of the Workplace: 21st Century Challenges,” on Friday and Saturday, February 26th-27th, in Bowl 16, Robertson Hall.
Over the past 20 years, the United States has received a wave of immigration, including many undocumented immigrants, that is unprecedented in size and diversity. This has had a huge impact on the American workplace, on labor and union organizing, on citizenship, on understandings of race and ethnicity, and on American politics. The law, designed for a different time and a very different demographic, has been evolving as well. But is it evolving in the right ways to bring about equal opportunity, protect worker rights, encourage full membership, but also spur economic growth and development? This conference brings together a group of leading legal scholars and social scientists whose voices, ideas, and perspectives are too often disconnected. The goal is to share the state of the art in what is known—and to point the way to the future.
“Many civil rights laws that govern much of America, and especially the workplace, are anachronistic. Those making the laws could not even conceive of the current demographic realities,” explained John Skrentny, professor of sociology and co-director, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California-San Diego. “It’s time for fresh new thinking to confront challenging new problems of race, rights, and job opportunities.”
Paul Frymer, associate professor of politics and acting director of Princeton University’s Program in Law and Public Affairs, noted, “The demographics of the workplace have been changing dramatically, and unfortunately, rights for workers have seemed to decline concurrently with it. With a group of leading experts in the field, we hope to set a new agenda for public policy in the workplace.”
The conference opens at 2:00 p.m. Friday with a panel discussion on “Immigration and the New Dynamics of Employment Discrimination,” followed at 4:00 p.m. by “Policy Prospects in the Age of Obama.” On Saturday, the conference will resume at 9:30 a.m., looking at “Immigration and the Challenge to Labor Unions,” and the closing session, “Immigration and the Meaning of Citizenship,” starts at 11:30 a.m.
Confirmed speakers include:
· Linda Bosniak, Rutgers School of Law - Camden
· Janice Fine, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations
· Paul Frymer, Princeton University
· Ruben J. Garcia, California Western School of Law
· Gary Gerstle, Vanderbilt University, History
· Jennifer Gordon, Fordham University School of Law
· Jennifer L. Hochschild, Harvard University, Government
· Tomás R. Jiménez, Stanford University, Sociology
· Michael Jones-Correa, Princeton University, Center for the Study of Democratic Politics
· Desmond King, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Politics
· Jennifer Lee, University of California at Irvine, Sociology
· Robin A. Lenhardt, Fordham University School of Law
· Glenn C. Loury, Brown University, Economics
· Deborah Malamud, New York University School of Law
· Ruth Milkman, CUNY Graduate Center, and University of California-Los Angeles, Sociology
· Mae Ngai, Columbia University, History
· Cristina Rodriguez, New York University School of Law
· John Skrentny, University of California-San Diego
· Mark Q. Sawyer, University of California-Los Angeles, Political Science
· Dorian T. Warren, Columbia University, Political Science
This event is presented by the Princeton University’s Program in Law and Public Affairs, in cooperation with the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California at San Diego, and is free and open to the public. Robertson Hall is located at the corner of Washington Road and Prospect Avenue.
For more information, please see: https://lapa.princeton.edu/
