Ithaca College

Ithaca College Event: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19th 2pm

“Labor and Economic Development: Historical Perspectives from New England to Colombia” –Klingenstein Lounge (Campus Center, IC); 2:00-3:00 pm

Evening Community Event: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19th; 7:30pm "Labor and Community Solidarity in the Colombian Coal Mines" --Unitarian Church of Ithaca --306 N. Aurora St. (corner of Aurora St. and Buffalo St.)-parlor room; 7:30-9pm

*Chomsky’s evening talk will be followed by short discussion of recent government-rebel confrontations in Cauca region of Colombia and impact on communities – by Patricia Rodriguez, member of Colombia Support Network- Central New York.

Aviva Chomsky is a historian and activist. In 1976-77, Aviva Chomsky worked for the United Farm Workers union, which sparked her interest in the Spanish language, in migrant workers and immigration, in labor history, in social movements and labor organizing, in multinationals and their workers, in how global economic forces affect individuals, and how people collectively organize for social change. In the book Linked Labor Histories, she looks at globalization as a long historical process with labor history at its center. It examines how employers have used regional inequalities to gain access to cheaper workers through immigration, plant relocation, and by using the threat of these two tactics to discipline their workers. She focuses on several interrelated case studies in New England and Colombia, including the textile industry, the banana industry, and the coal industry, to argue that local labor histories are best understood in a global context.

 Co-sponsored by: Ithaca College History and Politics Departments and Latin American Studies minor; IC’s Commit to Change; Cornell University Latin American Studies Program and History Department; Social Justice Council of the Ithaca Unitarian Church; CUSLAR; and Colombia Support Network-Central New York Chapter.

The talks are free and open to the public. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Patricia Rodriguez at prodriguez@ithaca.edu or 607-274-5714. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.