Michele Ford
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profmicheleford.bsky.social
Michele Ford
@profmicheleford.bsky.social
Labour sociologist and Southeast Asia tragic. Researches industrial relations and the intersection of global and local labour movements in Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Timor-Leste. Also interested in gender and disability at work.
Our new article on union-member engagement in Cambodia's construction sector is now out! @labourrc44.bsky.social @sydney.edu.au
Union–Member Engagement in Cambodia's Construction Sector
This article argues for the concept of adaptive unionism as a useful way to explore the pragmatic, often short-term approach that unions adopt just to survive in many parts of the Global South, explo...
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com
October 1, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
Call for Papers: Locating Power & Resistance in Global AI Production Networks

AAG 2026 Annual Meeting

AI is not just “in the cloud.” It relies on global supply chains, with power concentrated in a few countries and corporations.

fair.work/en/fw/blog/c...

#AAG2026
Call for Papers: Locating Power and Resistance Within Global AI Production Networks
American Association of Geographers (AAG) 2026 Annual Meeting
fair.work
September 23, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
'Ultimately, union revitalisation requires more than fresh ideas, new knowledge or improved policy. It also demands a sustained investment in unions’ internal capacity to collaborate, adapt and learn.'

🧵👇
September 11, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Michele Ford
TT Assistant Professor Position in Modern Southeast Asian Humanities at UC-Berkeley!

Further details below --
Assistant Professor -Modern Southeast Asian Humanities - Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
September 10, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
🚨The latest issue of RC44's newsletter (July 2025) is out now, including announcements about the recent 5th ISA Forum of #Sociology in Rabat, Morocco, great new publications, and a major new job opportunity for #labour researchers in Hong Kong - check it out!!👀✊
August 2, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Hearing tributes from Michael Burawoy's former students at the ISA Forum in Rabat. A tragic loss for the sociological community.
July 9, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Thrilled to be in Rabat for the @isa-sociology.org forum. Looking forward to catchimg up with fellow members of @labourrc44.bsky.social!
July 4, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Reposted by Michele Ford
SEARG, a grad research collective at UW-Madison is holding a Zoom event on the #Thai #Cambodia #border:

“Violence and Resurgent Nationalism in Thai-Cambodian Border Conflict.”

Monday, 23 June 2025
8 to 10 AM (CST/Madison)
8 to 10 PM (ICT/Bangkok)

Register: uwmadison.zoom.us/j/9486657476...
June 21, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
'The Elgar Companion to Regulating Platform Work: Insights from the Food Delivery Sector'

Order it here 🔗 www.elgaronline.com/edcollbook/b...
June 13, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
Great to be part of this collection documenting strike activity around the world in 2023!
- Published: International strike report 2023 featuring Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Italy, South Africa, Türkiye, UK, US & Uruguay @etui.bsky.social #WorkerSolidarity #CollectiveAction #LaborRights
- Read it here: emekcalisma.org/wp-content/u...
June 10, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Reposted by Michele Ford
How do #LGBT workers fare in American workplaces?
Erin Cech and William R. Rothwell @umich.edu show that LGBT employees report worse workplace experiences across 16 measures of employee treatment, workplace #fairness, and #jobsatisfaction.
doi.org/10.1177/0019...
June 6, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
The May 2025 issue of RC44’s Monthly Newsletter is out now, including important calls about the forthcoming 5th ISA Forum of #Sociology in Morocco, as well as calls to support our flagship publication, Global #Labour Journal (including a call for junior editors to join the editorial board)🙂✊
June 2, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
The GLJ still needs signatures. Please sign and circulate!
June 2, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
Hi Bluesky, I'm conducting research on the opportunities and challenges in the #UKHE sector that involuntarily displaced mid-career/senior academics face. Particularly interested in speaking to those in humanities and social sciences, regardless of their current employment status. 1/4 #academicsky
June 2, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
Louis Plottel is an #Anthropology PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. His current research looks at methamphetamine consumption among young men in #Aceh, #Indonesia, examining the impact of labour and economic development on patterns of drug use. #AnthroSky
www.newmandala.org/indonesias-n...
Indonesia’s new economy of speed - New Mandala
Why are millions of Indonesian workers taking up methamphetamine?
www.newmandala.org
May 30, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
Excitement is in the air as #ISAforum25 approaches!

We're thrilled to soon gather at the Université Mohammed V de Rabat in Rabat, Morocco! Want to explore the venue before you arrive? Check out these resources:

📽️ University tour: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSj_...
Université Mohammed V de Rabat - Film institutionnel
YouTube video by UM5Rabat
www.youtube.com
May 25, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
NEW: Discussions about transnational influences on Mainland Southeast Asia's autocratisation often focus on China—but @gregoryvraymond.bsky.social argues that a more important factor is how the region’s authoritarian regimes help reinforce each other. www.newmandala.org/making-mainl...
Making Mainland Southeast Asia safe for autocracy - New Mandala
How regional elites built an “authoritarian security community”
www.newmandala.org
April 16, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
American workers favour unions more than ever

www.epi.org/blog/america...

Interesting study. Breakdown over educational back ground, voting, and more.

Workers want more control over work especially in hostile situations

@kurtvandaele.bsky.social
@etui.bsky.social
@labournetgermany.bsky.social
Americans favor labor unions over big business now more than ever
This piece was also published on Medium. For decades, Americans were evenly divided in their relative support of labor unions and big business, but that’s no longer the case. Now, Americans are more l...
www.epi.org
May 21, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Reposted by Michele Ford
#JobOpening

ℹ️ Tenure-Track Professor/Associate Professor/Assistant Professor at HKU
📍 Department of Sociology, University of Hong Kong (HKU), Hong Kong

🗓️ Applications: September 14, 2025
🔗 jobs.hku.hk/en/job/53145...
May 15, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Michele Ford
What’s the hype around AI? Join us, @californialabor.bsky.social & members of @wearecta.bsky.social on May 28 for our 2nd webinar on Demystifying AI & Empowering Workers. We'll explore the rapidly changing public policy landscape around technology & labor. laborcenter.berkeley.edu/event/demyst...
May 15, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Reposted by Michele Ford
Sesame Street is officially UNION! Workers at Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind Sesame Street, have voted 55-19 to join @opeiulocal153.bsky.social

Huge congrats to @sesameworkersunion.bsky.social! “We can officially say that today, May 15th, is brought to you by the letter U!”
May 15, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Reposted by Michele Ford
Our new research reveals major differences across unions in 2024 — 33% of Teamsters backed VP Harris, compared to 77% of NEA members: “treating union members as a unified bloc can obscure…variation across different [groups] within organized labor.” clje.law.harvard.edu?p=6248
The Varied Voice of Labor: Unpacking the Political Engagement of Labor in the 2024 Election - Center for Labor and a Just Economy
“The Varied Voice of Labor: Unpacking the Political Engagement of Labor in the 2024 Election,” focuses on unions’ role in…
clje.law.harvard.edu
May 12, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Michele Ford
1/ After nearly 3 years of research, our @hrw.org report "The Gig Trap" is finally out. It documents how companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, Shipt, Favor, and Amazon Flex created a business model that undermines labor rights & deepens inequality in the US. A 🧵https://hrw.org/node/391214
May 12, 2025 at 2:55 PM