Bruce Nissen

{{Multiple issues|

}}

Bruce Nissen (born January 20, 1948) is an American professor emeritus of labor studies and director of research at the Center for Labor Research and Studies (CLRS) at Florida International University (FIU). He also formerly directed that university's Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy (RISEP).

Childhood and education

Nissen was born in Ames, Iowa, 1948 to Raymond and Irene Nissen.

He obtained a bachelor's degree in philosophy and psychology from Grinnell College in 1970,{{Cite web |last=Nissen |first=Bruce |title=My back pages: Grinnell, activism and the Late 1960s |url=http://alumni.grinnell.edu/document.doc?id=1469}} a master's degree in labor studies from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1975 entitled "Moral Means and Ends in Social Change: Dewey and Marxism".{{Cite thesis |last=Nissen |first=Bruce Allen |title=Moral Means and Ends in Social Change: Dewey and Marxism |date=1975 |degree=PhD Thesis |publisher=Columbia University |url=https://www.pdcnet.org/collection/fshow?id=pra_1977_0003_0709_0738&pdfname=pra_1977_0003_0709_0738.pdf&file_type=pdf}}

He married Karen Lieberman in 1978. They have two sons.

Career

Nissen was appointed an assistant professor of labor studies at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis in 1981. In 1985, Nissen became an associate professor of labor studies at Indiana University Northwest.

Nissen joined the Center for Labor Research and Studies at Florida International University in 1997.{{Cite web |last=Nissen |first=Bruce |title=Bruce Nissen collection relating to the United Faculty of Florida |url=https://scua.library.ucf.edu/repositories/4/resources/273 |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=scua.library.ucf.edu}}{{Cite web |date=2006-09-06 |title=Center for Labor Research and Studies |url=http://www.fiu.edu/~clrs/faculty/bruce_nissen.html |access-date=2025-03-23 |archive-date=2006-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060906050156/http://www.fiu.edu/~clrs/faculty/bruce_nissen.html |url-status=bot: unknown }} His wife, Karen Lieberman, has retired from a professorship in the Hospitality College at the North Miami campus of Johnson & Wales University.

Research

Nissen's research focuses on a wide variety of topics regarding workers and the U.S. labor movement.

Early in his career he focused on the impact and dissemination of the "new labor history" in labor studies as well as its impact on labor education in higher education and labor unions themselves. His early work also centered on theories of the labor movement, enterprise zones, plant closings, labor-community coalitions confronting plant closings, the nature of a labor-management "accord" in the post-World War II years in the U.S. and similar topics.

His later research looks at living wage campaigns, labor-community coalitions, the future direction of the U.S. labor movement, unions and workplace reorganization, unions operating in a globalized environment, unions facing "union busting," and the like.

In November 2001, he criticized economist Arthur Laffer (recently appointed an advisor to Florida Governor-elect Rick Scott), saying Laffer's economic theory "basically doesn't hold water".[https://archive.today/20120911203443/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/elections/fl-scott-economics-advisors-20101115,0,6507794.story Alanez, Tonya. "Scott Names Economic Advisers." Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. November 16, 2010.] Accessed 2010-11-17.

Memberships and awards

In 2011 Nissen won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the United Association for Labor Education (UALE).{{Cite web |title=United Association for Labor Education (UALE) - Awards |url=https://archive.uale.org/conference/awards#PW |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=archive.uale.org}} This is the highest award given in the field of labor education. In 2004 he won the Florida International University “Excellence in Research” award. This is the highest yearly research award given by the university.

Nissen is a member of the United Association for Labor Education, and has served on the executive board of the organization. He is past secretary-treasurer of the Labor and Labor Movements section of the American Sociological Association (ASA). He has also served on numerous boards and commissions in his local community (such as the Community Coalition for a Living Wage and the South Florida chapter of Jobs with Justice) and has served as an adviser and researcher for city, county and state government entities as well as labor unions and community organizations.

Nissen was also an editor of Labor Studies Journal for eight years, from 2000 through 2008.{{Cite journal |date=2002 |title=Introduction |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/18831 |journal=Labor Studies Journal |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=i–iii |issn=1538-9758}}

Selected publications

=Authored books=

Fighting for Jobs: Case Studies of Labor-Community Coalitions Confronting Plant Closings. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1995. {{ISBN|0-7914-2567-3}}Reviews of Fighting for Jobs:
Dexter Arnold, International Labor and Working-Class History, {{jstor|27672447}}
Ann W. Martin, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, {{jstor|2525197}}
John Portz, The American Political Science Review, {{jstor|2082838}}
Peter Rachleff, Indiana Magazine of History, {{jstor|27791919}}

Lieberman, Karen and Nissen, Bruce. Ethics in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry, second edition. Lansing, Mich.: Educational Institute, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-86612-328-0}}

=Edited volumes=

Larson, Simeon and Nissen, Bruce, eds. Theories of the Labor Movement. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987. {{ISBN|0-8143-1815-0}}Reviews of Theories of the Labor Movement:

Michel Audet, Relations Industrielles / Industrial Relations, {{jstor|23072963}}
B. D. P., Labour / Le Travail, {{jstor|25143127}}
B. Saas, Labor Studies Journal, [https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/labstuj16§ion=26&casa_token=QxAE9nnwTPwAAAAA:js-8XcDUzeFTCr1T_ZFqxUQR7VQXsW1Hzqdh_Aw8mikaSYR4YELn5Q-8F5bWZBjvlRAFfnta]

U.S. Labor Relations 1945-1989: Accommodation and Conflict. New York: Garland Publishing, 1990. {{ISBN|0-8240-7141-7}}Reviews of U.S. Labor Relations 1945-1989:

Jeffrey H. Keefe, ILR Review, {{jstor|2524729}}
Mary G. H. Lazarsky, Labor Studies Journal, [https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/labstuj17§ion=22&casa_token=Vg0_Bo5Z-wUAAAAA:Y6-C0x_ZSRPxDlBAE3KZTaQpgdqTEq6K6DAKQP075cSdCCXzJTle5_StXrE0U4oX0elPI7n0]

Craypo, Charles and Nissen, Bruce, eds. Grand Designs: The Impact of Corporate Strategies on Workers, Unions and Communities. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press, 1993. {{ISBN|0-87546-309-6}}Reviews of Grand Designs:
Dale Belman, Relations Industrielles / Industrial Relations, {{jstor|23074093}}
Ann C. Frost, Labour / Le Travail, {{jstor|25144024}}
Linda Markowitz, "In Labor", Contemporary Sociology, {{jstor|2075181}}

Unions and Workplace Reorganization. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-8143-2703-6}}Reviews of Unions and Workplace Reorganization:
Braham Dabscheck, Relations Industrielles / Industrial Relations, {{jstor|23074438}}
Stuart Eimer, Contemporary Sociology, {{jstor|2653869}}
Kim Moody, "Is U.S. Labor Changing as Fast as the Workplace?", Labour / Le Travail, {{jstor|25148946}}
Joy Reynolds, "Democracy at work", Monthly Labor Review, {{jstor|41845033}}

Which Direction for Organized Labor? Essays on Organizing, Outreach, and Internal Transformation. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1999. {{ISBN|0-8143-2779-6}}Reviews of Which Direction for Organized Labor?:
Greg Albo, Canadian Journal of Political Science, {{jstor|3233310}}
Markley Roberts, "Future of labor unions", Monthly Labor Review, {{jstor|41844971}}
Geoffrey Wood, African Sociological Review, {{jstor|24487397}}

Unions in a Globalized Environment: Changing Borders, Organizational Boundaries, and Social Roles. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2002. {{ISBN|0-7656-0869-3}}Reviews of Unions in a Globalized Environment:
Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval, Contemporary Sociology, {{jstor|1556557}}
Ian Greer, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, {{jstor|3590966}}
Rachel Sherman, Social Forces, {{jstor|3598194}}
Michael Wald, "The future of unions", Monthly Labor Review, {{jstor|41861688}}

References

External links

[http://labor.fiu.edu/ Center for Labor Research and Studies, Florida International]
[http://labor.fiu.edu/about-us/research-institutes/risep/ Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy, Florida International University]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Category:Labor historians

Category:21st-century American historians

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:Historians of the United States

Category:1948 births

Category:People from Ames, Iowa

Category:People from Miami

Category:Grinnell College alumni

Category:Rutgers University alumni

Category:Columbia University alumni

Category:Florida International University faculty

Category:Indiana University faculty