[lbo-talk] ASA changes its conference venue due to labor dispute

[Wojtek S]

My problem with the UCSC types, at least in the late 1980s, was that they
were essentially oblivious to the struggles of the working class in their
own backyard (South & Central America was a different story, but it was also
far away.)  As I recall, there were actions by agricultural workers (mostly
immigrant) in the surrounding areas (like Watsonville) and a few campus
voices calling for solidarity action that went largely ignored.  Or at least
it looked so to an outside observer - I just lived on the campus for a while
with my ex who was involved in various causes.

Wojtek

On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 12:08 PM, Alan Rudy <alan.rudy at gmail.com> wrote:


> W's correct, sociology leans liberal-left but far more so at the level of
> ASA's elected leadership that at the level of most departments... the field
> loves to be led by lefties but rarely embraces much more than reading their
> work... the rest gets more personal.
>
> At UCSC, other than Soc, the most left-leaning "Boards" as they were called
> at the time were Anthropology (flush with Marxists and Feminists),
> Community
> Studies (like Anthro only with a more activist/applied bent) and History of
> Consciousness (awash in deconstructivists of various stripes, Marxists,
> socialist feminists and anarcho-communalists - a number of whom, in all
> areas, were quite politically active).  Philosophy, PoliSci and History -
> despite some standout individuals - had stronger reputations for liberal
> lefism than practice - or at least so it seemed to me from 87 to 93.
> Environmental Studies could only be described as radical if you accept that
> some combination of ecoRomanticism and neoMathusian scientism is radical
> (though it "contained" the Agroecology Farm, the crunchiest place on
> campus,
> which also had pretty good people working on ag labor issues.)
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 11:32 AM, Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > This brings to memory a story my ex told me when she was a student at the
> > UCSC in the 1980s.  Her department (I forgot which it was, but it was not
> > sociology), which had a radical reputation, was approached by a union
> with
> > a
> > similar request  - to change the venue of their graduation party due to
> > labor-management dispute.  They refused - only a handful of students
> > (including my ex) joined the picket line and challenged the self-styled
> > progressive faculty and students who did cross it.
> >
> > In that context, I really appreciate the recent ASA decision to change
> the
> > venue.
> >
> > Wojtek
> >
> >
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