Tamara Kay, Ph.D.
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Harvard University, Department of Sociology
Associate Professor (2010-present)
Assistant Professor (2006-2010)
Co-Director, Transnational Studies Initiative
Affiliate, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
Affiliate, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
Affiliate, The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
University of California, San Diego, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies
Post-Doctoral Scholar (2004-6)
EDUCATION
Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley. Sociology, December 2004
M.A. University of California, Berkeley. Sociology, 1998
B.A. Northwestern University. Sociology, Art Theory and Practice, 1993 (Highest Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa)
BOOKS
NAFTA and the Politics of Labor Transnationalism
(in press as part of the Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics Series)
http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521762878
Trading Alliances and State Preferences: How Environmental and Labor Movements Shaped NAFTA (Tamara Kay and Rhonda Evans)
Manuscript in progress
Globalization, Culture, and the Politics of Transnational Organizations
Manuscript in progress
ARTICLES
Kay, Tamara. (forthcoming). "Legal Transnationalism: The Relationship Between Transnational Social Movement Building and International Law" Law and Social Inquiry
Evans, Rhonda and Tamara Kay. 2008. "How Environmentalists "Greened" Trade Policy: Strategic Action and the Architecture of Field Overlap." American Sociological Review. 73(6): 970-991.
Kay, Tamara. 2005. "Labor Transnationalism and Global Governance: The Impact of NAFTA on Transnational Labor Relationships in North America." American Journal of Sociology. 111(3): 715-756.
Winner of “Distinguished Scholarly Article” Award, Labor Movements Section of the ASA
Reprinted in Doug McAdam and David Snow (eds). 2009. Social Movements: Readings on Their
Emergence, Mobilization, Dynamics, and Impact. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/he/subject/Sociology/SocialChange/SocialMovements/?view=usa&sf=toc&ci=9780195384550
Beisel, Nicola and Tamara Kay. 2004. “Abortion, Race, and Gender in Nineteenth-Century America.” American Sociological Review. 69(4): 498-518.
Winner of “Best Article” Award, Political Sociology Section of the ASA
Winner of “Best Article” Award, Race, Gender and Class Section of the ASA
HONORS AND AWARDS
George Kahrl Award for Excellence in Teaching (Harvard, 2008)
Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Teaching Prize Nominee (Harvard, 2006-7)
"Distinguished Scholarly Article Award", Labor and Labor Movements Section of the American Sociological Association, for "Labor Transnationalism and Global Governance." (2006)
“Best Article” Award, Political Sociology Section of the American
Sociological Association, for “Abortion, Race, and Gender in Nineteenth-
Century America.” (2005)
“Best Article” Award, Race, Gender and Class Section of the American
Sociological Association, for “Abortion, Race, and Gender in Nineteenth-
Century America.” (2005)
Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award
University of California, Berkeley. (2004)
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship in Latin American Sociology (1999-2002)
National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (1996-1999)
Center for Culture, Organizations and Politics Research Grant, UC Berkeley (1999)
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
"Organizing Workers in Export Processing Zones," American Center for International Labor Solidarity (contributing author, forthcoming).
"Even Labor Unions Can Gain from Free Trade," Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, YaleGlobal Online. December 23, 2003. Reprinted in four international papers.
“The Labour Dimension Within Regional Integration and Free Trade Agreements in the Americas,” International Labour Organization (contributing author). 2003.
“Regional Integration and Free Trade in the Americas: The Labour Challenge in NAFTA,” International Labour Organization. 2004.
“Organizing in the Building and Construction Trades: A Working Paper on Organizing Strategies,” (with Kirsten Spalding), Center for Labor Research and Education, University of California, Berkeley. 1998.
“The Agricultural Labor Relations Board: A Captured Political Process,” Labor Center Reporter, Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California, Berkeley. Issue Number 305. 1998.
PRESENTATIONS AT PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS
2010
“Salgado’s Sociological Imagination.” Invited panelist on “Excellence in the Reporting of Social Issues” panel honoring award recipient Sebastião Salgado. American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta.
2009
“Shifts in North American Unions’ Policies on Immigrant Workers and Organizing (with Ruben Garcia).” Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Latin American Studies Association, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June.
2008
"How Environmentalists "Greened" Trade Policy Under NAFTA: Strategic Action and the Architecture of Field Overlap" (with Rhonda Evans). Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Boston, August.
“Labor’s Approach To Immigration” (with Ruben Garcia). Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Law and Society Association, Montreal, Canada, May.
2007
“From Wetback to Compañero: The Significance of New Union Immigration Policies Nationally and Transnationally.” Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Latin American Studies Association, Montreal, Canada, September.
“Explaining Variations in NAFTA’s Effects on Labor Transnationalism.” Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, New York, August.
2006
“NAFTA and the Greening of Trade Policy: A Unified Field Approach to Political Opportunity and Mobilization” (with Rhonda Evans). Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Montreal, Canada, August.
“Labor Attitudes in North America in a Post-NAFTA Era.” Paper accepted at the annual meetings of the Latin American Studies Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico, March.
2005
“Transnational Law, Governance and Labor Movements: The Emergence of a Labor Rights Regime in North America.” Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, August.
2004
“The Effects of Union Ideology and Autonomy on the Emergence of Labor Transnationalism Under NAFTA.” Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Latin American Studies Association, Las Vegas, October.
"From Wetback to Compañero: How Regional Economic Integration Helped Undermine Union Racism in North America." Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, August.
2003
“Global Governance and Transnational Labor Cooperation in North America.” Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Atlanta, August.
“Bypassing the State: The Effects of Legal and Political Contexts on Union Organizing Strategies.” Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Atlanta, August.
2002
“Undermining the Foreign Worker Myth: The Impact of Globalization on Racism
in North American Labor Movements.” Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Chicago, August.
2001
“A Toothless Trade Agreement with a Mean Bite: How NAFTA Changed the Paradigm of International Labor Solidarity in North America.” Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Latin American Studies Association, Washington, D.C., September.
2000
“A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Labor Relations in a Post-NAFTA Era: The Impact of NAFTA on Transnational Labor Cooperation and Collaboration in North America.” Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Latin American Studies Association, Miami, March.
1999
“Building Diversity in the Building and Construction Trades: Organizing Strategies to Face Old Problems and a New Workforce,” with Kirsten Spalding. Paper presented at the annual meetings of the AFL-CIO/University and College Labor Education Association, Atlanta, April.
1998
“Bypassing the Captured State: Globalization, Labor Law, and Union Organizing Strategies in Mexico and the United States.” Paper presented at the International Sociology Association’s 14th World Congress of Sociology, Montreal, Canada, August.
1994
“Political Culture and the Social Construction of Women in Nineteenth-Century Anti-Abortion Rhetoric,” with Nicola Beisel. Paper presented by Prof. Beisel at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Los Angeles, CA, August.
PRESENTATIONS AND INVITED LECTURES
2008
“Big Bird Goes to China: Globalization, Culture, and the Politics of Transnational Collaborations Among Economic Development Organizations.” Presented at the Transnational Studies Initiative Workshop, Harvard University, October.
“Big Bird Goes to China: Transnational Economic Development Organizations and Human Rights.” Presented at “Human Rights Policy in Brazil and the World: Dilemmas and Achievements”, University of São Paulo, August.
“Qualitative Methods and Transnational Law Research.” Presented at the California Western School of Law, May.
"Visualizing Labor Rights and Social Change in Documentary Photography." Presented at "Art Works: The Role of Arts in U.S. Workers' Struggles", Syracuse University, April.
2007
"How Environmentalists "Greened" Trade Policy Under NAFTA: Strategic Action and the Architecture of Field Overlap." Presented at the MIT-Harvard Economic Sociology Colloquium. September.
“Transnational Law, Governance and Labor Movements: The Emergence of a Labor Rights Regime in North America.” Presented at Northwestern University, April.
2006
“Transnational Law, Governance and Labor Movements: The Emergence of a Labor Rights Regime in North America.” Presented at:
Brown University, December.
Harvard University, December.
University of California, Los Angeles, May.
University of Arizona, Tucson, April.
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Azcapotzalco, Mexico City, February.
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Cambridge, February.
2005
“Transnational Labor Laws and Rights under NAFTA.” Presented at the California Western School of Law, October.
“The Social Construction of Mental Illness in Sociology and Photography.” University of California, San Diego Medical School. May.
1998
“Bypassing the State: The Effects of Legal and Political Contexts on Union Organizing Strategies.” Paper presented at the Center for Culture, Organizations and Politics, University of California, Berkeley, October.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Political Sociology, Social Movements, Sociology of Work and Labor, Law and Society, Economic Development and Modernization, Latin America, Globalization and International Trade, Social Theory
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Qualitative Methods (graduate level)
The Politics of Law, Labor and Globalization in the Americas
Law and Social Movements
Visualizing Social Problems in Documentary Film and Photography (lecture course)
Visualizing Human Rights and Social Change in Documentary Photography and Film
As Graduate Student Instructor:
Social Movements
History of Social Theory
Women, Society, and the Law
Future Courses:
Globalization, Culture, and the Politics of Transnational Organizations
Law and Globalization
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Consultant, American Center for International Labor Solidarity
Washington, D.C. (2003-4)
Consultant, International Labour Organization
Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (2002-3)
Fellow, John F. Henning Center for International Labor Relations
University of California, Berkeley (1999)
Researcher and Consultant, United Farmworkers of America
Watsonville, California (1999-2001)
Editor, The Labor Center Reporter, Center for Labor Research and Education, University of California, Berkeley (1998-9)
Planning Committee, Living Wage Working Summit
University of California, Berkeley (1998)
Legislative Assistant, American Civil Liberties Union
Washington, D.C. (1994-5)
Research Assistant, American Bar Foundation
Chicago, Illinois (1993-4)
Project Associate, Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois (1993)
SOCIAL DOCUMENTATION WORK
PHOTOGRAPHY
Exhibits
Waiting: Life on the Line, Teamsters Local 439 Strike
Labor Art Gallery at the Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley, 2002
Waiting: Life on the Line, Teamsters Local 439 Strike
Western Workers Labor Heritage Festival, City College of San Francisco, 2002
Book Cover for "The Ties That Bind Us: Mexican Migrants in San Diego County" by Richard Kiy and Christopher Woodruff, editors
FILM AND VIDEO
Still Life
Wrote and produced a short film (based on still photographs) to complement research on the living conditions of migrant farmworkers.
Sweating for a T-Shirt
Production Assistant for a documentary film examining sweatshop labor in Honduras produced by Global Exchange.
The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It: The Story of World War II Conscientious Objectors
Archival Researcher and Production Assistant for a one hour documentary on World War II conscientious objectors and their work in labor camps, which aired nationally on PBS.
Hotline 21
Wrote, produced and hosted a live call-in cable television program on sexual harassment and discrimination supported by a grant from the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, the Chicago Bar Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Labor.