BOOKFORUM at The New School

GETTING TO WORK:
Labor Issues in the 21st Century
November 19, 2009 @ 6:30pm

KIM BOBO, THOMAS FRANK, THOMAS GEOGHEGAN, & ANDREW ROSS, moderated by Bookforum’s editor CHRIS LEHMANN

Tishman Auditorium
66 W. 12th Street, New York, NY

Following every economic crisis, American labor has risen up to fight for reform. Where is organized labor now? Have American workers surrendered their expectations in order to compete within the world market?

As American workers come to resemble their counterparts in the countries to which we’ve exported so many jobs, can they ever unite? Or are they doomed to compete in a downward spiral of diminishing rights, including the right to organize? Has the NLRB failed in its mandate? Have the vast majority of American workers been abandoned by Washington? In a world interconnected at every level, is it every man for himself?

Bookforum, in conjunction with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics, will host a discussion on November 19, 2009, at the New School to investigate how the American workforce has changed, how work can be fairly rewarded in a post-industrial economy, and what rights still exist.

Panelists include: Kim Bobo, Director, Interfaith Worker Justice, and author, Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid—And What We Can Do About It; Thomas Frank, noted essayist; founder and editor of The Baffler; regular columnist, Wall Street Journal; and author, The Wrecking Crew, What’s the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America; Thomas Geoghegan, labor lawyer based in Chicago, and author of See You in Court, Which Side Are You On?, and Trying to Be For Labor When It’s Flat On Its Back; Andrew Ross, chair, Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, NYU, and author, Nice Work If You Can Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times; moderated by Bookforum Editor, Chris Lehmann.