Justice at Work: The Rise of Economic and Racial Justice Coalitions in Cities

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A pathbreaking look at how progressive policy change for economic justice has swept U.S. cities

In the 2010s cities and counties across the United States witnessed long-overdue change as they engaged more than ever before with questions of social, economic, and racial justice. After decades of urban economic restructuring that intensified class divides and institutional and systemic racism, dozens of local governments countered the conventional wisdom that cities couldnt address inequalityenacting progressive labor market policies, from $15 minimum wages to paid sick leave.

Justice at Work examines the mutually reinforcing roles of economic and racial justice organizing and policy entrepreneurship in building power and support for policy changes. Bridging urban social movement and urban politics studies, it demonstrates how economic and racial justice coalitions are collectively the critical institution underpinning progressive change. It also shows that urban policy change is driven by urban policy entrepreneurs who use public space and the intangible resources of the city to open agenda windows for progressive policy proposals incubated through national networks.

Through case studies of organizing and policy change efforts in cities including Chicago, Seattle, and New Orleans around minimum wages, targeted hiring, paid time off, fair scheduling, and anti-austerity, Marc Doussard and Greg Schrock show that the contemporary wave of successful progressive organizing efforts is likely to endure. Yet they caution that success is dependent on skillful organizing that builds and sustains power at the grassrootsand skillful policy work inside City Hall. By promoting justice atand increasingly beyondwork, these movements hold the potential to unlock a new model for inclusive economic development in cities.

Reviews

"Marc Doussard and Greg Schrock lucidly expose the ways in which nationally-networked activists have mobilized to win major policy victories that advance class and racial justice in cities across the United States, despite the formidable political challenges of the neoliberal era. This fresh and important contribution illuminates the crucial role of twenty-first century cities as incubators of progressive social change."Ruth Milkman, author of Immigrant Labor and the New Precariat

"This book readjusts the understanding of how and where political agendas are made."CHOICE

Author Bio

Marc Doussard is associate professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is author of Degraded Work: The Struggle at the Bottom of the Labor Market (Minnesota, 2013).

Greg Schrock is associate professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University.