Immanuel Ness
Professor
Political Science
Location: 3417 James Hall
Phone: 718.951.5000 x1739
Fax: 718.951.4833
Email:
Immanuel Ness is professor of political science at Brooklyn College. He may be contacted at:
Graduate Center for Worker Education
City University of New York
25 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10004
212.822.1708
Education:
Ph.D., Graduate School & University Center, CUNY - 1995 (Political Science)
M.A. / Certificate in African Studies, Columbia University - 1986 (Political Science)
B.A., New York University - 1981 (Political Science / History (minor))
Areas of Expertise:
Ness' research focuses on labor, migration, and social mobilizations and the political history of labor in the U.S. and Global South. He has published on precarious labor, new forms of worker organization and migration. His recent projects include studies on labor, migration, and the state security apparatus that governs working-class movements and organization. He uses historical, comparative, archival and ethnographic extended case histories, and co-research methods.
Books and Publications
The Sun Never Sets: South Asians in an Age of U.S. Global Power. Chapter on internal and international migration in an Indian high-technology center. NYU Press. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2013
Bâ, Saër Maty and Immanuel Ness, eds. Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism. London: Palgrave-Macmillan. Forthcoming 2014. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2013
General editor (Peter Bellwood volume editor, Prehistory) Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration. Five volumes. Oxford, United Kingdom: Wiley Blackwell Publishing. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2013
"A Reconsideration of 20th Century US Working Class Movements." The Other XX Century: Heretical Communism and Critical Thinking. Ed. Pier Paolo Poggio. In Italian. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2012
"African Migrant Worker Militancy in the Global North: Labor Contracting and Independent Worker Organizing in New York City." West African Migrations: Transnational and Global Pathways in a New Century. Eds. Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome and Olufemi Vaughan. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan Publishers. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2012
"Cooperatives and Workers-Owned Enterprises as Transformative Strategies." Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO) At http://www.geo.coop/story/cooperatives-and-workers-owned-enterprises-transformative-strategies. April. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2012
"Introduction: Precarious Power: Syndicalism Solidarity, and the New Organizational Paradigm." The Making of the New Chinese Working Class: Thirty Years of Migration/Chinas neue Arbeiterklasse Dreißig Jahre Wanderarbeit.. Eds. T. Maier and M. Wischoff. Leipzig, Germany: Spector Books. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2012
"No-Strike Pledge, World War I and World War II." Encyclopedia of American Business, Labor and Economic History. Ed. Melvyn Dubofsky. New York: Oxford University Press. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2012
"Strikes and Industrial Conflict." The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History. Ed. Lynn Dumenil. New York: Oxford University Press. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2012
Die endlich Nearckte politische Form. Fabrikräte und Selbstverwaltung von der russischen Revolution bis heute. Köln, Germany: Neuer ISP Verlag GmbH. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2012
Ness, Immanuel and Saer Maty Ba, guest editors, Film and Migrations. Crossings: Journal of Migration and Culture December. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2012
S.M. Bâ and I. Ness. "Media(te) Migrations and Migrant(s) Disciplines: Contrasting Approaches to Crossings." Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture 3.2, December: 173-80. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2012
"Kooperativen und Genossenschaften in den USA: Gestern und Heurte." Luxemburg: Gesellschaftensanalyse und Linke Praxis 3: 32-41. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2011
Guest Workers and Resistance to U.S. Corporate Despotism. Chicago / Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. (Books and Publications: Book) 2011
Ours to Master and to Own: Workers Councils--From the Commune to the Present. Chicago: Haymarket Books. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2011
Ness, Immanuel, Amy Offner and Chris Sturr. Real World Labor, Vol 2. Boston: Dollars & Sense / Economic Affairs Bureau. (Volume 1, 2009.) (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2011
"El tea-party, el capitalismo y la izquierda." Crisis Revista December. Buenos Aires. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2010
"Política migratoria norteamericana y lucha de clases Neoliberalismo empresarial, trabajadores huéspedes y resistencia obrera." Razón y Revolución 20. Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2010
"Could the Great Recession Lead to a Great Revolution?" guest editorial. Christian Science Monitor, July 30. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2009
International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest: 1500 to Present. Chichester, United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell Publishers. Eight-volume, 4,280-page peer-review historical project (editions in 2010, 2011 and 2012). (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2009
Brenner, Aaron, Benjamin Day and Immanuel Ness. The Encyclopedia of Strikes in American History. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2009
Ness, Immanuel and Stacy Warner Maddern. "Direct Action Grows in Wake of Financial Meltdown." Dollars & Sense September-October. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2009
Zullo, Roland and Immanuel Ness. "Privatization and the Working Conditions of Health Care Support Staff." International Journal of Public Administration 32.2: 152-65. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2009
Ness, Immanuel, Bruce Nissen and Charles J. Whalen. "Let a Thousand Journals Bloom: The Precarious Landscape of Labor and Employment Publishing." New Directions in the Study of Work and Employment: Revitalizing Industrial Relations as an Academic Enterprise. Ed. Charles J. Whalen. Edward Elgar Publishing. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2008
"Forging a Migration Policy for Capital: Labor Shortages and Guest Workers." New Political Science (American Politial Science Association) 29.4, December. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2007
"The Rise of Migrant Worker Militancy." Real World Globalization: A Reader in Business, Economics and Politics 9th ed. 172-81. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2007
"Workers and Latin American Migration to the U.S. New Government Policies and Worker Resistance." Latino Immigration Policy: Context, Issues, Alternatives. Ed. José E. Cruz. Albany, N.Y.: New York Latino Research and Resources Network. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2007
Review of Workers Centers: Organizing Communities at the Edge of a Dream, by Janice Fine. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2005. Labor Studies Journal 32: 226-27. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2007
Review of Poor Workers' Unions: Rebuilding Labor From Below, by Vanessa Tait. Cambridge, Mass.: South End Press, 2005. Qualitative Sociology 30.4: 509-11. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2007
Marable, Manning, Immanuel Ness and Joseph Wilson. Race and Labor Matters in the New U.S. Economy. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2006
Review of The Future of Organized Labor in American Politics, by Peter Francia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. Perspectives in Politics 4.4: 771-72. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2006
Immigrants, Unions, and the New U.S. Labor Market. Philiadelphia: Temple University Press. (Books and Publications: Book) 2005
Jayaraman, Sarumathi and Immanuel Ness. New Urban Immigrant Workforce. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2005
Minnite, Lorraine C. and Immanuel Ness. "Environmental Risk and Childhood Disease in an Urban Working-Class Caribbean Neighborhood." Beyond Sun and Sand: Caribbean Environmentalisms. Eds. Sherrie L. Baver and Barbara Lynch. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2005
Encyclopedia of American Social Movements. Armonk, N.Y.: ME Sharpe. Winner of numerous academic and scholarly awards for academic reference. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2004
"Unions and American Workers: Whither the Labor Movement." Teamsters and Turtles? U.S. Progressive Political Movements in the 21st Century. Ed. John C. Berg. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2003
Ness, Immanuel and James Ciment. Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe Publisher. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2001
Ness, Immanuel and Stuart Eimer. Central Labor Councils and the Revival of American Unionism: Organizing for Justice in our Communities. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe Publisher. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2001
Encyclopedia of Interest Groups and Lobbyists in the United States. Armonk, N.Y.: Sharpe Reference. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2000
Trade Unions and the Betrayal of the Unemployed: Labor Conflicts During the 1990s. New York: Taylor & Francis. (Books and Publications: Book) 1998
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Center for Place, Culture and Politics Fellowship, CUNY Graduate Center, for "Labor/Crisis/Protest." 2010-11. (Grants and Fellowships) 2011
Nominated for Dartmouth Medal, for The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest: 1500 to the Present. (Awards and Honors) 2010
AAP American Publishers Awards for Scholarly and Professional Excellence (PROSE Award) Honorable Mention for Multivolume Reference in Humanities & Social Sciences International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, 1500 to the Present. (Awards and Honors) 2009
Booklist Editor's Choice for Best Reference of 2009, International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest. (Awards and Honors) 2009
Christian Bay Award, Best scholarly paper submission, American Political Science Association. (Awards and Honors) 2006
Best Reference Source for Work on Social Movements, American Library Association. (Awards and Honors) 2005
Research Activities
Research on "Syndicalism and Other Forms of Worker Opposition to 21st Century Global Capitalism" for new book, forthcoming. 2012
Research on worker self-management and workers councils. Development of a book-length manuscript, handbook and collection. 2012
Labor Migration and Radical Political Economy. Convener of international organizing project on using Marxist and Socialist theory to examine migration and mobility to culminate in manuscript and collective research. 2011
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
"The Revival of Syndicalism and Autonomism as New Forms of Labor Representation." How Class Works 2012 Conference. State University of New York, Stony Brook. June 8. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2013
"Academic Precarity and Worker Solidarity." Plenary 3 presentation, COCAL (Culture and identity of the new academic citizens in North America and the world). Mexico City, Aug. 11. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Anarchosyndicalism, Occupy, and Lessons from the International Workers of the World." Social Movements and Global Politics in the 21st Century. William Paterson University. Wayne, N.J., April 12. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Global Capitalism and Guest Workers: Neoliberal Paradigms and Precarious Labour Migration." Centre for Research on Migration and Ethnic Relations Colloquium, University of Western Ontario. London, Ontario, Jan. 12. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Global Neoliberalism and the Political Economy of Guest Workers." The Columbia University Seminar on Globalization, Labor & Popular Struggles #671. New York, Feb. 20. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Guest Workers, Temporary Labor & the Future of American Immigration." Forum on Migration Series. Barnard College, Columbia University. New York, Jan 31. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Migration and Rank-and-File Rebellion." Historical Materialism Conference. London, Nov. 9. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2012
"Neoliberal Markets, Migration, and Guest Workers" keynote address. Third Annual Global Goes Local Conference. St. Cloud State University. St. Cloud, Minn., April 10. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Organizing Resistance Strategies in the US." Work and Employment Research Unit, University of Greenwich, United Kingdom, Nov. 13. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"South-North Temporary Migration: Low-Wage Guest Workers in North America." R.F. Harney Program in Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies. Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. Jan. 11. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Strategizing the Resistance." Greater Toronto Workers Assembly. Toronto, Jan. 13. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Workers Control, Occupations and Rank and Union Frank and File Movements." Harvard Law School, Labor and Worklife Program - Forum. Cambridge, Mass., Jan. 19. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
Labor and Occupy Closing Roundtable. North American Labor History Conference. Detroit, Oct. 20. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2012
Lynd, Alice, Staughton Lynd and Immanuel Ness. "Forging Rank and File Solidarity Unionism Today" roundtable discussion. United Association for Labor Education Conference. Pittsburgh, March 22. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2012
Ness, Immanuel and Elaine Bernard. "From Occupy to Workers Control Panel." Encuentro 5, Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture Series. Boston, Jan. 20. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Exploitation of Migrant Laborers, Direct Action and Remittances: 2005-2010." Eastern Economic Association Conference. New York, Feb. 25. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
"Guest Workers, Contemporary Capitalism, and Class Struggles: Global North and South." Historical Materialism Annual Conference. School of Oriental and African Studies. London, Nov. 13. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
"Guest Workers: A Roundtable." Conference on Labor Movement, Movement of Labor. North American Labor History Conference. Wayne State University. Detroit, Oct. 20. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
"International Political Economy: The Politics of Labor Rights." Chair and discussant, American Political Science Association. Seattle, Sept. 3. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
"Labor Unions and Worker Control in US Enterprises: A Historical Assessment." Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung International Conference: Taking Over the Shop: Entry Point for Transformation. Berlin, Nov. 4. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Labor's Civil Wars: Lessons for Union Organizers, Educators, and Activists" panelist. United Association for Labor Education. New Orleans, March 25. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Precarious Power: Syndicalism, Solidarity and the New Organizational Paradigm." Sponsored by MINI / Goethe-Institut Curatorial Residencies Ludlow 38. New York, July 16. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"US Migration Policy and Class Struggle: Corporate Neoliberalism, Guest Workers, and Labor Resistance." Workers and Labour in a Globalised Capitalism: Contemporary Themes and Theoretical Issues: International Conference. Centro Studi di Relazioni Industriali, Universita' di Cagliari. Cagliari, Sardinia (Italy), Sept. 30. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
Plenary Book Presentation: Unidad de Congresos Centro Médico Siglo XXI, Alumnos - Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana Xochimilco, Ciudad Mexico. Presentación del libro: Ours to Master and to Control: Workers' Cooperatives From the Commune to the Present. Mexico City, June 9. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
XII Jornada Hospitalaria Interdisciplinaria, 11 Jornada Hospitalaria de Saud. Buenos Aires, Nov. 29-Dec. 3. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2010
"Guest Workers, Migration and the Massachusetts Tourist Industry Labor Market." Immigration and the Future of Work in Massachusetts Conference. Labor Center, University of Massachusetts. Amherst, Mass., Nov. 20. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
"Labor, Migration, and Worker Insurgency." Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (CEIS) National Research Council of Argentina, II Jornadas Internacionales de Investigación, "La crisis y la revolución en el mundo actual." Buenos Aires, Dec. 9-12. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"The Rise of Factory Occupations and Sit-down Strikes in the Global North." Seminar on Radical Political Thought. University of Salford. Manchester, United Kingdom, Oct. 26. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"Worker Control in Global North." Workshop on Self-Management and Alternative Forms of Work Organization. University of Loughborough. Loughborough, United Kingdom, Oct. 22. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"Migrant Labor and Worker Insurgencies: The Signal International Strike." Centre for Economic and Social Studies. Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, Dec. 18. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Migrant Labor Militancy." Indian Society of Labour Economics, Giri Institute of Development Studies. Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, December. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2008
"Migration and Transnational Worker Solidarity." International Institute of Social History. Amsterdam. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
Two panel presentations (labor unions and labor migration), American Sociological Association. New York, August. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007
Invited talks in Tokyo to Hitotsubashi University, Hosei University, Center for Transnational Labor, Zenroren Labor Federation, Japan Trade Union Federation and local independent worker councils. December. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2006
Professional Leadership
Member, Political Science and Law Grants Committee, CUNY Research Foundation, 2011-present. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2013
Brooklyn College director, CUNY Internship Program, Department of Political Science. Placed and supervised students in local, state, federal electoral, criminal justice, legal and government administrative offices as well as international NGO, embassy, consulates, United Nations and other organizations. 1997-2012. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2012
Deputy chair, Graduate Urban and Public Administration, Political Science Department, 2001- May 2012. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2012
Member, Brooklyn College Urban and Public Administration Admissions Committee, 2001-present. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2012
Member, Curriculum Committee, Department of Political Science. Successfully developed permanent undergraduate and graduate courses. 2011-present. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2012
Member, Program Planning Committee, United Association for Labor Education, 2012-13. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2012
Co-coordinator, Worker control stream, International Labor Process Conference, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J., March 15-17. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2010
Urban Studies grants coordinator, CUNY Research Foundation, 2006-10. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2010
Member, Appointments Committee, 2002-07. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2007
Co-founder, Labor Project (New Political Science), American Political Science Association. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2005
Pedagogical Achievements
Best Teacher Award, Graduate Students Association, Brooklyn College, December. 2009
Community Activities
Member, advisory board, New York City Network on Cooperatives. 2013
Other Professional Activities
Editor, WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society. Wiley Periodicals. January 2000-present. 2012
