Stuart Eimer, PhD

Affiliated Programs

• Sociology (BA)

Education

• PhD, Sociology (2000)
  University of Wisconsin--Madison (WI)

About Me

It is my goal to kindle an interest in learning, introduce students to the ever-growing body of sociological knowledge, and provide them with the skills and experience needed for post-college careers and active citizenship. I create a rich classroom environment that introduces students to theory and research, while also cultivating their capacity to critically engage and reflect on sociology as a body of knowledge.

I also incorporate service-learning into many of my classes. These courses allow students to explore an academic subject in a classroom setting while also engaging in a service project in the community that is related to the subject at hand. The classroom learning helps inform and guide the service, while the service experience helps facilitate better understanding of the course content. These courses generate what might be called a virtuous circle of learning. Students leave my classes with a much better understanding of how the society within which they are embedded shapes their lives and with a better idea of how they in turn have the capacity to shape the society around them.

Research Interests

My research primarily focuses on organized labor in America. This work has explored the history and function of AFL-CIO central labor councils. This historical work ultimately led to research on contemporary labor councils and a co-edited book that has become the authoritative text on the subject. It also resulted in a Political Power and Social Theory article on the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), the American Labor Party, and Third Party Politics in the United States.

It also resulted in an article on the Milwaukee County Labor Council, which is one of the 50 most-cited articles in the Labor Studies Journal. My most recent work explores innovative organizing strategies being employed by the Service Employees International Unions (SEIU).

Media Expertise

• social justice
• social and economic inequality
• labor politics
• organized labor

Publications

• Eimer, S. (2006). Organized labor and third party politics in New York City: The rise and fall of the CIO-ALP. In D.E. Davis (Ed.), Political power and social theory, volume 18 (pp. 133–171). Cambridge, MA: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
• Ness, I., & Eimer. S. (Eds.) (2001). Central labor councils and the revival of American unionism: Organizing for justice in our communities. New York, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
• Eimer, S. (1999). From "business unionism" to "social movement unionism: The case of AFL-CIO Milwaukee county labor council. Labor Studies Journal, 24(2), 63–81.

Awards

• Widener University, College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence (2009)
• Widener University, Borislow Community Engaged Faculty Research Fellowship (2014)
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