Dorian Warren | Scholars Strategy Network

Connect with Dorian

About Dorian

Warren specializes in the study of inequality and American politics. His research includes labor union organizing and politics, race and ethnic politics, urban politics and economic development, globalization and workers’ rights, American political development, community organizing and social movements, economic elites’ political influence, and social science methodology. Warren taught at University of Chicago and Columbia University for over a decade, and has worked with several national and local organizations including the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, American Rights at Work, American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations, UNITE-HERE, Service Employees International Union, United Food and Commercial Workers’ Union, Steelworkers, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute, and Jobs with Justice, among others. He currently serves on the boards of the Applied Research Center, Center for Community Change, the Model Alliance and the Discount Foundation. In addition, he has also testified before government entities including the Chicago and New York City Councils, and the National Labor Relations Board.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Politics, Race, and the Future of the U.S. Labor Movement

Key Findings Brief, August 2013

In the News

Dorian T. Warren quoted on advocating that lawmakers authorize an emergency investment to keep child-care facilities operational for children of essential workers by Katrina vanden Heuvel, "Investment in Child Care Can’t Wait Until There’s a Coronavirus Vaccine " The Washington Post, July 21, 2020.

"How Much Will Black Lives Matter In Trump’s America?," Dorian T. Warren, Interview with Aubry Kaplan, The Huffington Post, December 1, 2016.

Dorian T. Warren quoted on putting jobs at the center of the presidential political agenda by Sean McElwee, "Republican Presidents Flunk the Economy: 11 Reasons Why America Does Worse under the GOP" Salon, May 4, 2015.

"How to Truly Eradicate Poverty," Dorian T. Warren, The Nation, May 1, 2015.

Guest to discuss media attacks on Hillary Clinton over foreign donations to her family Foundation on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Dorian T. Warren, April 21, 2015.

Guest to discuss police practices on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Dorian T. Warren, December 3, 2014.

Guest to discuss consumer confidence on MSNBC, Dorian T. Warren, November 30, 2014.

Guest to discuss the electorate and voter turnout on MSNBC All In, Dorian T. Warren, November 5, 2014.

Dorian T. Warren's research on labor politics and unions' push to broaden their membership discussed by Kevin Bogardus, "Union Cheif Calls for a 'Reawakening'," The Hill, September 9, 2013.

Dorian T. Warren quoted on labor politics (and the possibility of Senator Elizabeth Warren running for higher office), "Amid Presidential Murmurs, Warren to Address AFL-CIO" The Hill, September 8, 2013.

"America’s Last Hope: A Strong Labor Movement," Dorian T. Warren, Salon, February 19, 2012.

"What NBA Stars and Occupy Wall Street Have in Common," Dorian T. Warren (with Paul Frymer), Washington Post, October 28, 2011.

"Gap between Rich and Poor Widen," Dorian T. Warren, Interview with Lawrence O’Donnell, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, October 26, 2011.

"Occupy Wall Street: A 21st Century Populist Movement?," Dorian T. Warren (with Joe Lowndes), Dissent Magazine, October 21, 2011.

Dorian T. Warren's research on increasing wealth disparity in America discussed by Paul Sullivan, "Scrutinizing the Elite, Whether They Like It or Not," New York Times, October 15, 2010.

Publications

"Putting Families First: Good Jobs for All," The Putting Families First Campaign, March 31, 2015.

Provides a blueprint for how a strong government can combat economic inequality by creating more and better jobs, increasing wages, and dismantling structural gender and racial biases in the workplace.

"Expanding Opportunity For Middle Class Jobs in New York City: Minority Youth Employment in the Building and Construction Trades," (with Ester R. Fuchs and Kimberly Bayer), Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, February 28, 2014.

Examines the Edward J. Malloy Initiative for Construction Skills Pre-Apprenticeship Program as an example of an innovative, successful workforce development model that has succeeded in placing minority youth in middle-class careers in the construction industry in New York City.

"The Empirical Case for Streamlining the NLRB Certification Process: The Role of Date of Unfair Labor Practice Occurrence," (with Kate Bronfenbrenner), Columbia University, Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, May 31, 2011.

Shows that despite the National Labor Relations Board's continued advocacy for reducing the time period between the filing of a petition to form a union and union certification elections, there have been virtually no elections in the first 20 days after a petition is filed, while in the past two years there has been a slight increase in the number of elections held within 21 to 30 days of the petition. The study demonstrates the relationship between the petition date, election date and when the most serious employer opposition and intimidation occurs and concludes that the NLRB should streamline the certification process to reduce the number of days between petition and election.

"The Unsurprising Failure of Labor Law Reform and the Turn to Administrative Action" in Reaching For A New Deal: Ambitious Governance, Economic Meltdown, and Polarized Politics in Obama’s First Two Years, edited by Theda Skocpol and Lawrence R. Jacobs (Russell Sage Foundation, 2011), 191-229.

Discusses the failure of labor reform in the early Obama administration, and highlights said failures' political effects.

"The American Labor Movement in the Age of Obama: The Challenges and Opportunities of a Racialized Political Economy" Perspectives on Politics 8, no. 3 (2010): 847-860.

Argues that it is impossible to understand the current political situation confronting the Obama administration without an account of the underlying sources of labor weakness in the U.S.

"The Politics and Practice of Economic Justice: Community Benefits Agreements as Tactic of the New Accountable Development Movement" (with Virginia Parks). Journal of Community Practice 17, no. 1 (2009): 1-19.

Elucidates key employment-related features of Community Benefits Agreements (legally binding agreements between a private developer and a coalition of community-based organizations in which community members pledge support for a development in return for benefits such as living wage jobs, local hiring, and affordable housing), and argues that the strongest Community Benefits Agreements result from organizing campaigns which utilize a range of political tactics including the dissensus organizing power of labor-community coalitions.

Race & American Political Development (edited with Joe Lowndes and Julie Novkov) (Routledge, 2008).

Collects essays that study the politics of race historically, institutionally, and discursively, and resituates race in American politics as an issue for sustained and broadened critical attention.

"Race, Gender, and the Rebirth of Trade Unionism" (with Kate Bronfenbrenner). New Labor Forum 16, no. 3 (2007): 142-148.

Makes the case that solidarity can, and must, be built among an ever-diversifying labor movement, nation, and world - the labor movement's very survival depends on it.