Audio recording of an event held at the Harold Washington Public Library April 18, 2010. Sponsored by Interfaith Worker Justice and Arise Chicago.
Paul Apostolidis discusses his new book *Breaks in the Chain: What Immigrant Workers Can Teach America about Democracy*
In Breaks in the Chain, Paul Apostolidis investigates the personal life stories of a group of Mexican immigrant meatpackers who are at once typical and extraordinary. After crossing the border clandestinely and navigating the treacherous world of the undocumented, they waged a campaign to democratize their union and their workplace in the most hazardous industry in the United States.
Breaks in the Chain shows how immigrant workers—individually and sometimes collectively—both reinforce and contest a tacit but lethal form of biopolitics that differentiates the life chances of racial groups. Examining their personal narratives, Apostolidis recasts our understanding of the ways immigrants construct and transform social power.
Apostolidis uses empirical inquiry to spark new reflections in critical theory as he analyzes how immigrant workers' local practices confront structural power within and beyond America's borders. Linking stories of immigration to stories about working on the meat production line—the chain—he reveals the surprising power of activism by immigrant workers and their allies and demonstrates how it can—and should—promote social and political democracy in America.
"Theoretically illuminating, politically engaged, and of vital importance Breaks in the Chain lucidly intertwines subtle reflections about the ways immigrants negotiate and contest power with the interview narratives in a riveting manner. It exemplifies the very best of contemporary political theory."
—Romand Coles, Northern Arizona University
"Breaks in the Chain is tremendously important and timely, treating as it does the intersection between immigration and unionization that is currently a critical edge of left politics and a new frontier of biopolitical power."
—Lisa Disch, University of Michigan
Paul Apostolidis holds the Judge and Mrs. Timothy A. Paul Chair of Political Science at Whitman College. He is the author of Stations of the Cross: Adorno and Christian Right Radio and coeditor of Public Affairs: Politics in the Age of Sex Scandals.
Co-Sponsors:
* Arise Chicago (http://arisechicago.org/)
* Interfaith Worker Justice (http://www.iwj.org/)
* The Seminary Co-Operative Bookstores (http://www.semcoop.com/)
* Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) of Chicago (http://www.rocunited.org/affiliates/chicago)
* Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United (http://www.rocunited.org/)
* Truthout (http://www.truthout.org/)
* Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (http://icirr.org/)
* UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers International Union) Local 881 (http://www.local881ufcw.org/)
* Ethnic Media Project / Community Media Workshop (http://communitymediaworkshop.org/)
* Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Chicago Metro Chapter (http://www.lclaa.org/)
* U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project (http://www.usleap.org/)
* Warehouse Workers for Justice (http://www.warehouseworker.org/)
* UE (United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America) Western Region (http://www.ueunion.org/index.html)* Institute for Migration and International Social Work, Loyola University Chicago (http://www.luc.edu/socialwork/migration.shtml)
* UNITE HERE Local 1 (http://www.unitehere1.org/)
* Working In These Times (http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/)
* Center for New Community (http://www.newcomm.org/)
* SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana (http://www.seiuhcil.org/)
* AREA Chicago (http://www.areachicago.org/)
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