Lowell Turner

People/Emeriti faculty
Emeritus Professor
Global Labor and Work
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Contact

250 Ives Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
United States

Tel
+1 (607) 5925851
CV
Lowell Turner CV
Websites
Immigrant workers and the labor movement
Overview

Lowell Turner is Professor Emeritus of International and Comparative Labor at Cornell University, in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He is the author of Democracy at Work and Fighting for Partnership (both published by Cornell University Press), and the editor or co-editor of Negotiating the New Germany, Rekindling the Movement, Labor in the New Urban Battlegrounds, and Mobilizing against Inequality (all published by ILR Press/Cornell University Press). In June, 2011, he was appointed as the founding academic director of the new Worker Institute at Cornell.

Teaching Statement 

We have fine students at ILR and I love teaching at all levels: undergraduate, MILR and MS/PhD. For undergraduates, I teach a large elective course with themes that change from year to year as the world changes. Our current focus is on the politics of economic inequality in the US and Europe. I take it as a challenge to maintain interest with up to 220 students each time the course is offered (once a year), mixing lecture, slides, video clips, guest speakers, and occasional movies - and I enjoy mentoring the 3 or 4 teaching assistants that work with me each time. I also work with 3 or 4 Worker Institute undergraduate research fellows, each semester since the start of the program in spring 2014, and it is a particular pleasure to see them developing research skills in ongoing projects.
For graduate students I teach a lively, discussion-oriented seminar, on topics similar to the current issues focus of the undergraduate course. I coordinate the Collective Representation concentration for the MILR program and work closely with the small but enthusiastic cohort of graduate students focused on labor and social justice. I also supervise honor's students, ILR interns at home and abroad, global scholars, and MS/PhD students, taking particular pleasure from watching an idea grow into a substantial paper or thesis.

Research Statement 

My current central focus in on a four-year, five-country study of Young Workers and the Labor Movement - in Germany, France, the Netherlands, UK and US. It has been gratifying to watch Maite Tapia, a former ILR PhD student and current assistant professor at Michigan State, blossom into a full co-director of this project. Together we have developed the research proposal, selected the participants, secured the grant (300,000 euros from the Hans Boeckler Foundation), and now coordinate the work of five country teams of researchers. We are now in the third year, completing in-depth case studies for all five countries. A lively workshop in Paris in September 2015 brought together all project researchers to launch the study. A second workshop is now being planned for May 2017 in Amsterdam, where research findings and analysis will be presented and discussed - in preparation for a book manuscript and publication.
Past research has focused on Immigrant workers and unions in Germany, France, Britain and the U.S., resulting in an ILR Press book published in April 2014, with an accompanying interactive website to update research and dialogue on this topic among a wide range of scholars and practitioners.
Earlier research focused on various aspects of comparative labor movements, social partnership in Germany, the impacts on labor of German unification, labor movement revitalization at home and abroad, and contemporary labor and politics in the U.S. and Europe.

Service Statement 

The Worker Institute integrates academic work with public service. Much of my work as founding academic director from 2011-2016 involved facilitating innovation and expansion of public service activities. These include the National Labor Leadership Initiative, Union Communications Service, and much more. After 5 years I passed the academic director baton on to talented colleague Ileen DeVault, but I continue to serve on the WI executive committee. I also participate in various Institute projects, including mentoring Worker Institute student fellows. My current four-year, five-country research project on young workers and the labor movement aims not only at contributions to theory but also at practical recommendations for unions and other organizations that advocate for workers. With several colleagues and student fellows, I coordinate a Worker Institute-linked website on immigrant workers and the labor movement, with a current research focus on the defense and integration of immigrant workers, with and without official documentation. 
In the past I have chaired the ICL Department as well as numerous ILR standing committees and promotion committees.

Outreach Statement 

As founding director of the Worker Institute, one of my main goals has been to bring together resident and extension faculty, staff, students and practitioners in common efforts - both in outreach and on the Ithaca campus. 20 ILR resident faculty members are now actively involved in one or more WI project, greatly expanding our outreach capacity as well as our offerings on the Ithaca campus. Added to this are the 25+ students per semester who participate in our Worker Institute research fellows program, working with both resident and extension faculty. Outreach efforts range from the projects of our initiative groups such as Precarious Work, Equity at Work, and Climate Jobs to our path-breaking National Labor Leadership Initiative in partnership with the AFL-CIO. Our flagship Union Leadership Institute in now in its 16th year and has trained over 300 current union leaders in New York State and surrounding areas. Union Communication Services, gifted to us three years ago by founder David Prosten, is a widely used publication and newsletter service that each week reaches 70,000 shop stewards and local union officials all over the country.

Areas of Expertise

Automotive
Change and development
Coalition building
Collective Bargaining
Community and members
Comparative labor movements
Global economy
Immigration and the Labor Force
Industrial relations systems
Institutional structure and politics
International and Comparative Workplace Studies
International and comparative political economy
Labor and politics
Labor and society
Labor in Europe and the U.S.
Labor relations
Labor rights
Leadership
Organizing
Revitalization
Rights of working people
Strategic planning
Unions
Urban labor movements
Workplace democracy

Other expertise

Comparative Political Economy

Publications

Journal Articles

  • . . “Union Campaigns as Countermovements: Mobilizing Immigrant Workers in France and the United Kingdom.” . British Journal of Industrial Relations, 51(3), 601-622.
  • , & . . Renewed activism for the labor movement: the urgency of young worker engagement. Work and Occupations, forthcoming(fall 2018), 30.
  • . . American's New Labor Movement. Harvard Business Review.
  • . . . WSI-Mitteilungen, 4(2014), 40-43.
  • . . Institutions and Activism: Crisis and Opportunity for a German Labor Movement in Decline. ILR Review, 62(3), 294-312.
  • . . Advantages of Backwardness: Lessons for Social Europe from the American Labour Movement. Social Europe, 2(4), 147-153.
  • . . Globalization and the Logic of Participation: Unions and the Politics of Coalition Building. Journal of Industrial Relations, 48(1), 83-97.
  • . . From Transformation to Revitalization: A New Research Agenda for a New Era. Work and Occupations, 32(4), 383-399.
  • , & . . Special Issue on "Labor and Social Justice: Union Renewal in a Contested Global Economy". Work and Occupations, 32(4).
  • . . Labor and Global Justice: Emerging Reform Coalitions in the World’s Only Superpower. Industrielle Beziehungen, 11(1-2), 92-111.
  • , & . . Building the New Europe: western and eastern roads to social partnership. Industrial Relations, 35(1), 76-92. (DOI:dx.doi.org/doi:10.1111/j.1468-2338.2004.00301.x)
  • , , & . . Reviving the American Labor Movement: Institutions and Mobilization. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 9(1).
  • , , & . . The Politics of Labor Movement Revitalization: The Need for a Revitalized Perspective. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 9(1), 119-133.
  • , & . . Awakening the Giant: The Revitalization of the American Labor Movement. Transfer, 7(3), 466-480.
  • . . Participation, Democracy and Efficiency in the U.S. Workplace. Industrial Relations Journal, 28(4), 309-313.
  • . . The Europeanization of Labor: Structure Before Action. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 2(3), 325-344.
  • , & . . A Diversity of New Work Organization: Human-Centered, Lean, and In-Between. Industrielle Beziehungen, 1(1), 39-61.
  • . . Social Partnership: An Organizing Concept for Industrial Relations Reform. Workplace Topics: AFL-CIO Department of Economic Research, 4(1), 83-97.
  • , , & . . The Transformation of Industrial Relations in Eastern Germany. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 46(2), 229-244.
  • . . Three Plants, Three Futures. Technology Review, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 92(1), 38-45.

Conference Proceedings

  • . . Building Solidarity across the North Atlantic.

Book Chapters

  • . . Chapter 1 - Introduction: Organizing Immigrant Workers. In Mobilizing against Inequality: Unions, Immigrant Workers and the Crisis of Capitalism. (pp. 1-13). ILR Press/Cornell University Press.
  • , , & . . Chapter 2 - Union Campaigns as Countermovements: Best Practice cases from France, the U.K. and U.S.. In Mobilizing against Inequality. (pp. 14-31). ILR Press/Cornell University Press.
  • . . Chapter 5 - France: Battles for Inclusion, 1968-2010. In Mobilizing against Inequality. (pp. 69-85). ILR Press/Cornell University Press.
  • , , & . . Chapter 7: Opportunity and Choice for Unions Organizing Immigrant Workers: A Comparison across Industries and Countries. In Mobilizing against Inequality. (pp. 107-130). ILR Press/Cornell University Press.
  • . . Beyond Social Partnership: Unions, Civil Society, and the Renewal of Social Dialogue. In Beyond the Social-Civil Dialogue Dichotomy. (pp. 22). Routledge.
  • . . A Future for Lablor Unions?. In International Handbook on Labour Unions: Responses to Neoliberalism. (pp. 25). Routledge.
  • , & . . Coalition Building in New York and Los Angeles. In Labor in the New Urban Battlegrounds: Local Solidarity in a Global Economy. (pp. 129-143). ILR Press.
  • . . Introduction: An Urban Resurgence of Social Unionism. In Labor in the New Urban Battlegrounds: Local Solidarity in a Global Economy. (pp. 1-18). ILR Press.
  • . . Globalization, Participation, and the Renewal of the Labor Movement. In The Future of Labor Unions: Organized Labor in the 21st Century. Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas.
  • , , & . . The New Solidarity? Coalition Building in Five Countries. In Varieties of Unionism: Strategies for Labor Renewal in Comparative Perspective. (pp. 137-158). Oxford University Press.
  • . . Why Revitalize? Labour’s Urgent Mission in a Contested Global Economy. In Varieties of Unionism: Strategies for Labor Renewal in Comparative Perspective. (pp. 1-10). Oxford University Press.
  • , & . . Paths to Global Social Regulation: What Can Americans Learn from the European Union?. In European Integration as a Social Experiment in a Globalized World. Hans Böckler Stiftung.
  • . . Reviving the Labor Movement: A Comparative Perspective. In Labor Revitalization: Global Perspectives and New Initiatives. (pp. 23-57). JAI Press.
  • , & . . Building Social Movement Unionism: the Transformation of the American Labor Movement. In Rekindling the Movement: Labor’s Quest for Relevance in the 21st Century. Cornell University Press.
  • , , & . . Perils of the High and Low Roads: Employment Relations in the United States and Germany. In Labor, Business, and Change in Germany and the United States. (pp. 123-155). W.E. Upjohn Institute.
  • , , & . . Revival of the American Labor Movement: Issues, Problems, Prospects. In Rekindling the Movement: Labor’s Quest for Relevance in the 21st Century. Cornell University Press.
  • . . Revitalizing Labor in Today’s World Markets. In Creating Competitive Capacity: Labor Market Institutions and Workplace Practices in Germany and the United States. (pp. 73-80). edition sigma.
  • , & . . Convergence and Diversity in International and Comparative Industrial Relations. In Industrial Relations at the Dawn of the New Millennium. (pp. 192-208). New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
  • . . Rank-and-File Participation in Organizing at Home and Abroad. In Organizing to win: New research on union strategies. ILR Press.
  • , , & . . Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining. In Impediments to Competitive Labor Markets: An Overview of Policy and Research Issues. World Bank.
  • . . Die Politik der neuen Arbeitsorganisation: Kooperation, Opposition, oder Partizipation?. In Jenseits des Sozialpakts: Neue Unternehmensstrategien, Gewerkschaften und Arbeitskämpfe in den USA. (pp. 38-49). Westfälisches Dampfboot.
  • . . Prospects for Worker Participation in Management in the Single Market. In Labor and an Integrated Europe. (pp. 45-79). The Brookings Institution.
  • . . Social Partnership in Germany: Lessons for U.S. Labor and Management. In Looking Ahead. (pp. 13-16). National Planning Association.
  • , , & . . Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining: Suggestions for Emerging Democracies in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In Double Shift: The Transformation of Work in Post-Socialist and Post-Industrial Societies. (pp. 187-208). M. E. Sharpe.
  • . . Industrial Relations and the Reorganization of Work in West Germany: Lessons for the U.S.. In Unions and Economic Competitiveness. (pp. 217-246). M.E. Sharpe.
  • . . NUMMI - Japanische Produktionskonzepte in den USA. In Mit Vollgas in den Stau: Automobilproduktion, Unternehmens-strategien und die Perspektiven eines ökologischen Verkehrssystems. (pp. 78-87). VSA-Verlag.

Books

  • , , & . . Mobilizing against Inequality: Unions, Immigrant Workers, and the Crisis of Capitalism. ILR Press/Cornell University.
  • . . Labor in the New Urban Battlegrounds: Local Solidarity in a Global Economy (co-editor). ILR Press.
  • . . Rekindling the Movement: Labor’s Quest for Relevance in the 21st Century (co-editor). Cornell University Press.
  • . . Transnational Cooperation among Trade Unions: Philosophy, Structure and Practice (co-editor). Cornell University Press.
  • . . Fighting for Partnership: Labor and Politics in Unified Germany. Cornell University Press.
  • . . Negotiating the New Germany: Can Social Partnership Survive? (editor). Cornell University Press.
  • . . The Comparative Political Economy of Industrial Relations (co-editor). Industrial Relations Research Association and ILR Press.
  • , , & . . Industrial Relations Reform in S. Korea: Principles and Policies in IR Systems Design. Korea Labor Institute.
  • , , & . . Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining. World Bank, PHREE.
  • . . Democracy at Work: Changing World Markets and the Future of Labor Unions. Cornell University Press.

Monograph

  • , & . . Democratic Corporatism and Policy Linkages: The Interdependence of Industrial, Labor Market, Incomes and Social Policies in Eight Countries.

Professional activities

  • Young worker innovations in union organizing. Presented to IDHES, research institute at Ecole Normale Superieure Paris-Saclay . Cachan/Paris. 2017.
  • Social movements and union renewal: a comparative perspective. Presented to AFL-CIO, Worker Institute. Long Island, NY - union training center. 2016.
  • Labor and the politics of inequality. Presented to Partnership for the Public Good, Buffalo. Buffalo, NY. 2016.
  • Mobilzing against Inequality: immigrants, young workers and the labor movement - Two international and comparative research projects. Presented to IDHE/ENS Cachan. Paris, France. 2015.
  • Framing a Five Country Comparative Analysis. Presented to Worker Institute/ILR/Cornell, IDHE/ENS Cachan, Hans Boeckler Foundation. Paris, France. 2015.
  • Young Workers in the Maelstrom. Presented to Worker Institute at Cornell, European Trade Union Institute, Hans Boeckler Foundation. Dusseldorf, Germany. 2015.
  • Innovation and Revitalization: Today's Labor Movement in Perspective. Presented to Labor and Employment Relations Association. Pittsburgh. 2015.
  • From Here to Where? The NLRA at 80 years. Presented to Worker Institute, ILR, Cornell. New York City. 2015.
  • Immigrant workers and unions in the US and Europe. Presented to ILR School. Ithaca, NY. 2015.
  • A new generation of labor leaders. Presented to Communication Workers of American and the Worker Institute. Ithaca, NY. 2014.
  • Immigrant workers and unions: a comparative perspective. Presented to the Worker Institute at Cornell. New York City. 2014.
  • Sources and solutions for growing economic inequality. Presented to Cardiff University. Cardiff, Wales, UK. 2014.
  • Development and priorities of the new Worker Institute at Cornell. Presented to ILR School. New York City. 2014.
  • A transatlantic labor conversation: Rich Trumka and Horst Mund. Presented to Hans Boeckler Foundation, European Trade Union Institute, the Worker Institute at Cornell. New York City. 2014.
  • Economic inequality and the building of a Worker Institute. Presented to MILR graduate student association, ILR. Ithaca, NY. 2014.
  • Nikolaus Simon, Chattanooga, and international union collaboration. Presented to Hans Boeckler Foundation. Duesseldorf, Germany. 2014.
  • Challenges facing the labor movement in US and Europe. Presented to ILR, European Trade Union Institute, Hans Boeckler Foundation. Brussels, Belgium. 2013.
  • Immigrant workers and the labor movement. Presented to Rutgers University. New Brunswick, NJ. 2013.
  • Mobilizing against Inequality. Presented to LERA. San Diego, CA. 2013.
  • Labor after the 2012 elections. Presented to International Labor Communications Association. Washington, DC. 2012.
  • Introduction to the Worker Institute. Presented to ILR. Ithaca. 2012.
  • Introduction to the Worker Institute. Presented to ILR. Ithaca. 2012.
  • Opening address: Collective Representation and Sustainable Society. Presented to ILR. New York City. 2012.
  • Introduction to the Worker Institute. Presented to ILR/NYS AFL-CIO. Ithaca. 2012.
  • Battles for inclusion: unions and immigrant workers. Presented to Hans Boeckler Foundation. Duesseldorf. 2012.
  • Introduction to the Worker Institute. Presented to ILR, European Trade Union Institute, Hans Boeckler Foundation. Ithaca, NY. 2012.
  • The Worker Institute at Cornell. Presented to LEST/CNRS, University of Aix-Marseille. Aix-en-Provence. 2012.
  • Unions and Immigrant Workers: A Comparative Analysis. Presented to LEST/CNRS, University of Aix-Marseille. Aix-en-Provence, France. 2012.
  • Economic crisis, firm-level bargaining, and the challenge for German labor. Presented to CNEL - Consiglio Nazionale dell'Economia e del Lavoro. Rome, Italy. 2012.
  • The Obama coalition confronts counter-mobilization: Political paralysis on the way to economic transformation. Presented to ESCP/EAP. Paris, France. 2012.
  • Syndicalisme et mouvement social aux Etats-Unis: analyse et perspectives. Presented to Ecole Normale Superieure/Cachan - IDHE. Paris. 2012.
  • Unions as countermovements. Presented to British Journal of Industrial Relations. London. 2011.
  • Unions, immigrant workers and crisis: finding from a comparative analysis. Presented to London School of Economics and Political Science. London. 2011.
  • Mobilizing against inequality: unions, immigrant workers and the crisis of capitalism. Presented to Irish Industrial Relations Association. Dublin, Ireland. 2011.
  • CGT, Collectif des Onze, and the "sans papiers" movement in France. Presented to University of Warwick. Coventry, U.K.. 2011.
  • German codetermination: an international perspective. Presented to European Union. Brussels, Belgium. 2011.
  • Mobilizing against inequality. Presented to Hans Boeckler Foundation. Frankfurt, Germany. 2011.
  • Public Sector Labor Conflict in the United States. Paris. 2011.
  • The Politics of Paralysis. Paris. 2011.
  • Community Unionism: Myth or Reality?. Denver. 2010.
  • Labor Protests in France. Presented to European Trade Union Institute. Brussels. 2010.
  • Obama and Countermobilization. Presented to ESCP/EAP Paris - ILR School. ILR School - and Paris by distance learning. 2010.
  • Capitalism Revisited. Presented to Council of European Studies. Montreal. 2010.
  • Obama, Labor and Counter-mobilization: Political Paralysis in a Time of Economic Transformation. Presented to European Economic and Social Committee. Brussels, Belgium. 2010.
  • Coalition building, social and civic dialogue. Presented to CAPRIGHT, European Economic and Social Committee. Brussels, Belgium. 2009.
  • The politics of healthcare reform. Presented to Cornell Democrats. Cornell University. 2009.
  • Full circle: from the 1960s to the Obama generation. Presented to Pomona College. Claremont, CA. 2009.
  • Unions and crisis in Germany and the U.S.: the urgency of reform. Presented to ESCP-EAP. Paris, France. 2009.
  • Obama and the battle for labor law reform: the Employee Free Choice Act. Presented to Ecole Normale Superieure, Cachan, IDHS. Paris. 2009.
  • Immigrant workers and the renewal of the labor movement. Presented to ESCP-EAP. Paris, France. 2009.
  • Green jobs, unions and economic recovery. Presented to Kendall. Ithaca. 2009.
  • Immigrant workers and union strategies. Presented to LERA. San Francisco. 2009.

Honors and Awards

  • Prinicpal investigator, website on immigrant workers and unions, Carnegie Corporation, Hans Boeckler Foundation.
  • Principal Investigator, Hans Boeckler Foundation.
  • Principal investigator, large grant, Hans Boeckler Foundation.
  • Three large research grants in progress, Carnegie Corporation, Public Welfare Fund, Hans Boeckler Foundation.
  • James G. Scoville Best International/Comparative Paper, LERA - Labor and Employment Relations Association.
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