Dr. Julie Watts, adjunct professor of politics at Pomona College, will speak on “Immigration Policy and the Challenge of Globalization for Labor Unions in Europe and the United States,” on Tuesday, April 9, at noon in the McConnell Living Room on the Pitzer College campus. This talk, part of the European Union Center of California Spring 2002 Lecture Series, is free and open to the public, and lunch will be available for purchase at the McConnell Dining Hall prior to the lecture.
Dr. Watts’ research has focused on immigration policy and labor relations, with a concentration on Southern European labor union and policy models. She contends that the expanding global market challenges states’ capacity to control immigration and threatens the competitiveness of high-wage labor markets and traditional union organization, thereby forcing unconventional alliances between unions and employers to produce moderately open immigration policies. Currently, Watts is expanding her research to include the United States, investigating both the impact of labor union decentralization and the reasons behind the increase in cross-national labor agreements and institutions such as the European Trade Union Confederation and labor pacts among U.S., Canadian, and Mexican unions.
Watts received her doctorate in political science from New York University, with a concentration on comparative politics, international relations, and international political economy.
The European Union Center of California, housed on the Scripps College campus, sponsors Dr. Watts’ appearance. Part of a network of EU Centers nationwide, the EU Center of California seeks to promote education, scholarly research, and public understanding of European integration and its consequences.