Julie Greene New Editor of of Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas

Flagship Working-Class History Journal Comes to Department of History

Julie Greene has been appointed Editor of Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas, the flagship journal for the field of labor and working-class history. Her five-year term will begin July 1, 2023. Julie will succeed Leon Fink, who has served as Editor since the founding of the journal in 2004. The Department of History is very pleased to welcome Labor to the University of Maryland at College Park, and see it as reinforcing the already formidable strength of labor studies on our campus. 

 Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas is the official journal for the Labor and Working-Class History Association (LAWCHA). From the LAWCHA website: "As a site for both historical research and commentary, Labor hopes to provide a scaffolding for understanding the roots of our current dilemmas. Although the tradition from which the journal derives its energy has focused primarily on social movements and institutions based on industrial labor, Labor intends to give equal attention to other labor systems and social contexts (agricultural work, slavery, unpaid and domestic labor, informal sector, the professions, etc.). Its focus begins with the U.S. experience but also extends to developments across the “American” hemisphere and to other transnational comparisons that shed light on the American experience. While the scholarly article and book review serve as the foundation of LABOR, the journal contains a number of sections designed to broaden its reach and purpose. The “Contemporary Affairs” section offers labor historians concerned with the search for “a usable past” a platform to address contemporary problems of workers and their unions. “Up for Debate” allows for a focused argument by several scholars on an important theme. “The Common Verse” displays a diversity of poems that give voice to American workers. And a recent new section “Whither Labor History?” analyzes the current state of labor history."

Julie Greene writes, "Founding editor Leon Fink has done such important work as editor of Labor for nearly twenty years, helping to give our field its vibrant character. It's an honor to follow in his footsteps. I'm especially pleased that I'll be working closely with Senior Associate Editors Jessie Wilkerson and Shennette Garrett-Scott. Together we hope to bring new and exciting work on class, race, and gender to the journal."