posts and bio Shelton Stromquist

Shelton Stromquist is Professor of History University of Iowa and past President of LAWCHA. He is the author of Reinventing "the People": The Progressive Movement, the Class Problem and the Origins of Modern Liberalism and numerous other works.

About

I teach labor and social history at the University of Iowa and I’m currently vice-president of LAWCHA.

Who should “rule at home”?

by Shelton Stromquist on September 24, 2020

Early in September, Polk County Iowa District Judge Jeffrey Farrell ruled that state officials had the right to overrule local school boards in decisions about when and how they might open for instruction during the current pandemic. He asserted, “Whether right or wrong, that is their decision to make.”

The University of Iowa Labor Center and the Attacks on Labor

by Shelton Stromquist on July 30, 2018

The attacks on labor these days take many forms. Some are straight-forward and brutally confrontational—the Janus ruling or the state legislation in Iowa and Wisconsin and elsewhere that follow a similar script in their attack on labor’s position of strength in the public sector.

Garment Workers are Speaking Out – Will Nike Listen?

by Shelton Stromquist on March 17, 2016

Today marks the first day of our countrywide worker speak-out featuring Noi Supalai, a former union President and Nike worker from Thailand. While manufacturing apparel for Nike, Noi and her 1,100 coworkers were subject to harassment and fought to receive unpaid wages.

President’s Perspective: Looking Forward from New York

by Shelton Stromquist on June 18, 2013

The New York conference in June marked an important threshold for LAWCHA. The programmatic diversity and stimulus to membership the conference created invites some rethinking of LAWCHA’s identity as an organization and future directions.