Bruce Nissen is a professor of labor studies and director of research at the Center for Labor Research and Studies (CLRS) at Florida International University

Florida International University

Florida International University is an American public research university in metropolitan Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus in University Park...

 (FIU). He also directs that university's Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy (RISEP).

Childhood and education

Nissen was born in Ames, Iowa

Ames, Iowa

Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa...

, 1948 to Raymond and Irene Nissen.

He obtained a bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in philosophy and psychology from Grinnell College

Grinnell College

Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....

 in 1970, a master's degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in labor studies from Rutgers University

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

 and a Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 in 1975.

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

Indiana University

Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

 in 1981. In 1985, Nissen became an associate professor of labor studies at Indiana University Northwest

Indiana University Northwest

Indiana University Northwest is a regional university campus in the Indiana University system in Gary, Indiana, USA, established in 1963.-Courses:...

.

Nissen joined Florida International University

Florida International University

Florida International University is an American public research university in metropolitan Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus in University Park...

 in 1997. His wife, Karen Lieberman, is a professor in the Hospitality College at the North Miami

North Miami, Florida

North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, and the North Miami campus of Johnson & Wales University...

 campus of Johnson & Wales University

Johnson & Wales University

Johnson & Wales University is a private, nonprofit, co-educational, career-oriented university with four campuses located throughout the United States. Providence, Rhode Island, USA, is home to JWU's first and largest of four currently operating campuses. Founded as a business school in 1914, by...

.

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

New labor history

New labor history is a branch of labor history which focuses on the experiences of workers, women, and minorities in the study of history. It is heavily influenced by social 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

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 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

Union busting

Union busting is a wide range of activities undertaken by employers, their proxies, and governments, which attempt to prevent the formation or expansion of trade unions...

," and the like.

In November 2001, he criticized economist Arthur Laffer

Arthur Laffer

Arthur Betz Laffer is an American economist who first gained prominence during the Reagan administration as a member of Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board . Laffer is best known for the Laffer curve, an illustration of the theory that there exists some tax rate between 0% and 100% that will...

 (recently appointed an advisor to Florida Governor-elect Rick Scott), saying Laffer's economic theory "basically doesn't hold water".

Memberships and awards

In 2004, Nissen was awarded FIU's Excellence in Research award, which annually honors an FIU educator who has engaged in cutting-edge research.

Nissen is a member of the United Association for Labor Education

United Association for Labor Education

United Association for Labor Education is an international association for post-secondary, community, union and associated labor educators based in Chicago, Illinois....

, and serves on the executive board of the organization. He is past secretary-treasurer of the labor and Labor Movements section of the American Sociological Association

American Sociological Association

The American Sociological Association , founded in 1905 as the American Sociological Society , is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology by serving sociologists in their work and promoting their contributions to serve society.The ASA holds its...

 (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

Jobs with Justice

Jobs with Justice is a national campaign for workers' rights in the United States. It was founded in 1987, and includes both individual members and affiliated organizations....

) and has served as an advisory and researcher for county and state government.

Nissen is also the editor of Labor Studies Journal

Labor Studies Journal

Labor Studies Journal is a multi-disciplinary academic publication about workers and labor organizations in the United States as well as internationally. It was founded in 1975....

.

Solely 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 0791425673

Co-authored books

• Lieberman, Karen and Nissen, Bruce. Ethics in the Hospitality Industry. Lansing, Mich.: Educational Institute, 2005. ISBN 0866122753

Solely edited books

• Unions and Workplace Reorganization. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1997. ISBN 0814327036
• Unions in a Globalized Environment: Changing Borders, Organizational Boundaries, and Social Roles. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2002. ISBN 0765608693
• U.S. Labor Relations 1945-1989: Accommodation and Conflict. New York: Garland Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0824071417
• Which Direction for Organized Labor? Essays on Organizing, Outreach, and Internal Transformation. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1999. ISBN 0814327796

Co-edited books

• 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 0875463096
• Larson, Simeon and Nissen, Bruce, eds. Theories of the Labor Movement. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987. ISBN 0814318150

Solely authored book chapters

• "Labor-Community Coalition Strengths and Weaknesses: Case Study Evidence." In Partnering for Change: Unions and Community Groups Build Coalitions for Economic Justice. David Reynolds, ed. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2004. ISBN 0765612739
• "The Miami Living Wage Ordinance: Primary and Secondary Effects." In Living Wage Movements: Global Perspectives. Deborah Figart, ed. New York: Routledge, 2004. ISBN 041532002X
• "Unions and Workplace Reorganization." In Unions and Workplace Reorganization. Bruce Nissen, ed. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1997. ISBN 0814327036
• "Utilizing the Membership to Organize the Unorganized." In Organizing to Win: New Research on Union Strategies. Kate Bronfenbrenner, Sheldon Friedman, Richard W. Hurd, Rudolph A. Oswald, and Ronald L. Seeber, eds. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press, 1998. ISBN 0801484464

Co-authored book chapters

• Nissen, Bruce and Grenier, Guillermo. "Unions and Immigrants in South Florida: A Comparison." In Unions in a Globalized Environment: Changing Borders, Organizational Boundaries, and Social Roles. Bruce Nissen, ed. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2002. ISBN 0765608693
• Nissen, Bruce and Rosen, Seth. "Community Based Organizing: Transforming Union Organizing Programs from the Bottom Up." In Which Direction for Organized Labor? Essays on Organizing, Outreach, and Internal Transformation. Bruce Nissen, ed. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1999. ISBN 0814327796

Solely authored articles

• "Alliances Across the Border: U.S. Labor in the Era of Globalization." Working USA. 3:1 (May/June 1999).
• "Alternative Strategic Directions for the U.S. Labor Movement: Recent Scholarship." Labor Studies Journal. 28:1 (Spring 2003).
• "Building a Minority Union: The CWA Experience at NCR." Labor Studies Journal. 25:4 (Winter 2001).
• "The Effectiveness and Limits of Labor-Community Coalitions: Evidence from South Florida." Labor Studies Journal. 29:1 (Spring 2004).
• "Fighting the Union in a 'Union Friendly' Company: The AT&T/NCR Case." Labor Studies Journal. 23:3 (Fall 1998).
• "Living Wage Campaigns from a 'Social Movement' Perspective: The Miami Experience." Labor Studies Journal. 25:3 (Fall 2000).
• "The Recent Past and Near Future of Private Sector Unionism in the U.S.: An Appraisal." Journal of Labor Research. 24:2 (Spring 2003).
• "The Remarkable Rehabilitation of Company Unionism in Recent Industrial Relations Literature." Critical Sociology. 25:1 (1999).
• "The Role of Labor Education in Transforming a Union Toward Organizing Immigrants: A Case Study." Labor Studies Journal. 27:1 (Spring 2002).
• "Trouble in Paradise: Organizing Condominium Workers in the Sunshine State." New Labor Forum. 14:3 (2005).
• "U.S. Workers and the U.S. Labor Movement." Monthly Review. May 1981.
• "What Are Scholars Telling the U.S. Labor Movement to Do?" Labor History. 44:2 (May 2003).

Co-authored articles

• DuBois, Thomas and Nissen, Bruce. "Changing Industrial Relations in Steel: Implications for Labor Education." Labor Studies Journal. 12:2 (Fall 1987).
• Nissen, Bruce and Grenier, Guillermo. "Local Union Relations with Immigrants: The Case of South Florida." Labor Studies Journal. 26:1 (Spring 2001).
• Nissen, Bruce and Rosen, Seth. "The CWA Model of Membership Based Organizing." Labor Studies Journal. 24:1 (Spring 1999).

External links

• Center for Labor Research and Studies, Florida International University
• Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy, Florida International Uiversity