Institute for the Study of Social Change (ISSC) UC Berkeley

This year, the Institute for the Study of Social Change (ISSC) will celebrate thirty years of research and mentorship dedicated to understanding the processes of social change in ways that challenge and transform structures of inequality. We will honor the distinguished life of the Institute with an all-day conference dedicated to highlighting several of the significant research projects undertaken at ISSC that have influenced academic research, public debate and social policy and have expanded the boundaries of the social sciences. The scholars who shaped these groundbreaking projects will reflect upon their involvement and the broader impacts of their research on the field. In addition, current and former ISSC Graduate Fellows will reflect upon the significant ways the Fellows program has shaped their careers as scholars and teachers. As we look back on the Institute’s major accomplishments of the past 30 years we will also look ahead to what the future holds for the study of social change.

"Comparative Perspectives and Competing Explanations: Taking on the Newly Configured Reductionist Challenge to Sociology," 2005 Presidential Address to the American Sociological Association, by Troy Duster (.pdf)

8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Continental breakfast

9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.

Welcome and Opening Remarks, ISSC Director Rachel Moran

9:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Unsettling Traditions of Work and Family: Grievances and Transformations of the 1970's

This panel features two projects from the 1970s: A study of dual work families, which looked at the way traditional family roles are transformed when the female head of household is employed full-time; and the Longshore Project, a study of the social and political lives of longshore workers and their efforts to manage workplace grievances.

Arlie Hochschild, Professor Emerita, Department of Sociology, UC Berkeley
Anne Machung, Ph.D., Coordinator, Comparative Data Analysis, Academic Planning and Coordination, UC Office of the President
David Wellman, Professor, Department of Community Studies, UC Santa Cruz
Gene Vrana, Director of Educational Services and Librarian, International Longshore and Warehouse Union
Moderator: David Matza, Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology, UC Berkeley

Remarks offered by Anne Machung (.pdf)

Remarks offered by Gene Vrana (.pdf)

10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Reconceptualizing Discrimination: Reform and Resistance in the 1980s

This panel features two projects from the 1980s: A study of the social and political contexts of health screening and testing for genetic diseases; and the Chicano/Latino Policy Project, which promoted interdisciplinary research and training on issues of policy related to the Chicano/Latino population in the U.S. (and evolved into UC Berkeley’s Center for Latino Policy Research).

Terry Lunsford, Ph.D., Berkeley, California
Diane Beeson, Professor Emerita, Department of Sociology and Social Services, California State University, East Bay
Abel Valenzuela, Associate Professor, Department of Urban Planning, and Director, Center for the Study of Urban Poverty, UCLA
Andrés Jiménez, Director, California Policy Research Center, UC Office of the President
Moderator: Elaine Draper, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, California State University, Los Angeles

"Beyond the Local: Knowledge to Promote Public Policy Change and to Strengthen Instituitions," power point presentation by Abel Valenzuela, Jr. (.pdf)

12:15 - 1:45 p.m.

Three Decades of Nurturing New Generations of Social Change Scholars

This lunch roundtable features one current and three former graduate students who participated in ISSC’s Graduate Training/Fellows Program. Panelists will reflect on the ways in which their participation in the program impacted their careers as scholars and teachers. (Box lunches will be served)

David Minkus, Ph.D., Director of ISSC Graduate Fellows Program
Howard Pinderhughes, Associate Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Nursing, UCSF
Denise Segura, Professor, Department of Sociology, UC Santa Barbara
Carolyn Chen, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Northwestern University
Ben Peacock, ISSC Graduate Fellow, Medical Anthropology, UC Berkeley and UCSF
Moderator: Rachel Moran, Robert D. and Leslie-Kay Raven Professor of Law, Boalt Hall, and Director of the Institute for the Study of Social Change

Remarks offered by Carolyn Chen (.pdf)

2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

The Unfinished Legacy of Race and Gender Reforms: New Strategies for the 1990s

This panel features two projects from the 1990s: The Diversity Project, which studied the way Berkeley’s undergraduates were adjusting to the new ethnic and racial diversity of the campus; and the Center for Working Families, which supported interdisciplinary research on working families and "cultures of care".

Troy Duster, Chancellor’s Professor, UC Berkeley, and Professor of Sociology, New York University
Maxine Craig, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Services, California State University, East Bay
Barrie Thorne, Professor, Department of Sociology, UC Berkeley
Catherine Albiston, Assistant Professor of Law, Boalt Hall School of Law
Moderator: Michael Omi, Associate Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley

"The Gendered Construction of Family Leave," power point presentation offered by Catherine Albiston (.ppt)

3:30 - 4:45 p.m.

Youth, Culture and Power in the New Millenium: A Research Agenda for the Future

This panel features one recently completed and three ongoing research projects: The Equal Opportunity Project, which examined the implications of affirmative action for admissions processes and practices in higher education; the Center on Culture, Immigration and Youth Violence Prevention, which researches the causes and prevention of youth violence especially in immigrant communities; the Mexican-American Political Socialization Project, which examines Mexican-American families’ political and civic socialization; and the Digital Youth Project, which explores the impact of digital technologies on how youth learn in informal settings outside of school.

Anthony Chen, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Franklin Zimring, William G. Simon Professor of Law, Boalt Hall School of Law
Irene Bloemraad, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, UC Berkeley
Heather Horst, Postdoctoral Scholar, Digital Youth Project, ISSC, UC Berkeley
C.J. Pascoe, Postdoctoral Scholar, Digital Youth Project, ISSC, UC Berkeley
Moderator: David Montejano, Associate Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley

"The Mexican American Political Socialization Project," power point presentation by Irene Bloemraad (.pdf)

"Digital Youth Project," power point presentation offered by Heather Horst and C.J. Pascoe (.ppt)

4:45 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Closing Remarks, Rachel Moran

5:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Wine and Cheese Reception (Alumni House Patio)

Conference Agenda