A challenge to the hip pocket: Evoking commitments to social justice

30 June 2009

Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm

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In this Sydney Ideas lecture, Professor Margaret Levi lecture will trace the development of the labor movements' participation in social justice campaigns (global and domestic), comparing the US experience to the activities of Australian unions; and reveal how organisations can provoke members' willingness to act beyond material interest. Professor Levi was introduced by Geoffrey Garrett, CEO of the United States Studies Centre.

Almost all Australian unions ask members to contribute personal time and money or approve organisational resources for charitable purposes, electoral campaigns, and lobbying. Some also advocate political and social justice causes that seem unrelated to the achievement of better wages or working conditions. Historically, some Australian unions have even induced members to take costly personal actions that do not seem to have connection to the reasons people joined the union initially. The green bans of the NSW Builder Labour Federation in the early 1970's are the best known example. How were some unions able to do this, and what is about membership of an organisation that can change the beliefs of constituents about the nature of the world and challenge long-held views? In religious, political, and labour organizations, altruism is common enough, as are volunteering, political commitment, and unselfish service to others. But what is the unique structure of some organisations' culture and leadership that can produce member self-sacrifice on behalf of a wide range of political and social justice issues, and can indeed transform political preferences of the members?

A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Professor Margaret Levi is Vice Chair of the International Academic Advisory Committee at the US Studies Centre. She also holds the position of Jere L. Bacharach Professor of International Studies and Director of the Comparative and Historical Analysis of Organizations and States Center at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Levi is past President of the American Political Science Association, current Chair of the Board of Directors of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, General Editor of the Annual Review of Political Science, and General Editor of the Cambridge University Press book series Studies in Comparative Politics.

Levi is the author and editor of a dozen books and has written countless articles and chapters. Her books include Analytic Narratives, Consent, Dissent, and Patriotism, and Of Rule and Revenue.

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