Welcome to the Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy

The Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy is an interdisciplinary research and education initiative at the University of California, Santa Barbara that aims to expand public understanding and discussion of important issues facing working people. In cooperation with the Department of History, the Center administers an undergraduate minor in Labor Studies and a graduate-level Colloquium in Work, Labor and Political Economy. The Center also hosts conferences and workshops that contribute to an understanding, of the issues and ideas, past and present, illuminating the character of American capitalism and the working class that sustains it.

Essays & Interventions

Nelson Lichtenstein writes on the stakes of the GM strike.

Nelson Lichtenstein writes about law scholar Kate Andrias and a proposal for sectoral labor...

Labor Notes is one of the most successful socialist projects in the labor movement in US history. It has trained and connected tens of thousands of union militants throughout the world.

Center alumnus Samir Sonti writes in Jacobin on what communities can learn from the teachers'...