Evaluating Community Organizing

Worker Institute associate Tapia Ph.D. '13 wins award

Maite Tapia Ph.D. '13 has won the highest award at an international labor conference.

Tapia was honored for her paper, entitled "Evaluating community organizing: does the context matter? Evidence from the U.S., Germany and UK." It won the award for best paper written by a doctoral student.

Tapia's paper examines how -- in times of union decline -- alternative forms of collective representation, such as community organizations, can work successfully in very different countries.

The 31st Annual International Labour Process Conference was held in March at Rutgers University.

This month, Tapia defends her dissertation for a doctorate in Comparative and International Labor.

Her dissertation committee includes ILR faculty member Lowell Turner, director of the Worker Institute at Cornell; Professor Edward Lawler, former ILR dean, and Sidney Tarrow, Emeritus Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Government.

Tapia has accepted an assistant professor position from the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations at Michigan State University, but will continue as an associate of the Worker Institute.

She is leading the Worker Institute’s planning committee for the Transatlantic Social Dialogue meeting in Brussels June 13-15.