New mass movement! Cedric de Leon, UMass-Amherst

Everything all at once: Wars. Pandemics. Climate change. Neoliberalism. Authoritarianism. White supremacy...I ask my fellow sociologists the following questions: How can we, as sociologists, intervene in this moment, individually or collectively? How has their work changed over the last few years in response to the times? What are their sources of hope for change?

Cedric de Leon tells us, among other things, about Du Bois as an exemplary public sociologist and the under recognized role of Black activists in the U.S. labor movement. Cedric calls for a “new eclectic mass movement” for economic democracy with labor playing a prominent role. Cedric also discusses the complicity of sociology in the development of neoliberalism.

Cedric de Leon's labor organizing experience includes the Connecticut School Bus Drivers Alliance, the United Farm Workers in California, and the American Federation of Teachers at the University of Michigan. Most recently, he was the first person of color to direct the UMass Labor Center. Cedric’s research focuses on labor, race, and party politics in the United States, India, and Turkey.

https://www.umass.edu/lrrc/faculty/cedric-de-leon
"The case for an eclectic mass movement," New Labor Forum 2022