Annual Lewinson Lecture
Every year the Lewinson Center invites a major scholar to deliver the Annual Lewinson Lecture on a theme relevant to the Center’s mission and purpose.
2025-2026 Lewinson Lecture Theme: Immigration
The Lewinson Center for the Study of Labor, Inequality, and Social Justice was honored to host Shannon Gleeson, Ph.D. for the 2025-2026 Lewinson Lecture on the theme of Immigration.
'Legalized Inequalities' book cover
'Legalized Inequalities: Immigration and Race in the Low-wage Workplace'
Shannon Gleeson discussed her co-authored book, Legalized Inequalities: Immigration and Race in the Low-wage Workplace. In the United States, low-wage work is marked by exploitation, danger, and systemic inequality, with immigrants and workers of color disproportionately trapped in precarious jobs. In this lecture, sociologist Shannon Gleeson explored how U.S. labor, immigration, and civil rights policies intersect to reinforce workplace inequalities, leaving vulnerable workers with little recourse against abuse. Drawing on extensive research with Haitian and Central American workers, Gleeson and her co-authors reveal how employer-friendly regulations, at-will employment, and immigration enforcement mechanisms disempower workers. However, low-wage and immigrant workers are not entirely powerless. Gleeson highlighted their acts of resistance, from filing complaints to collective organizing. In this lecture, Gleeson explored and expanded upon this research and offered constructive solutions and policy proposals for moving forward.
Shannon Gleeson is the Edmund Ezra Day Professor at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the Brooks School of Public Policy. She has authored or co-authored five books, edited six volumes or special issues, and published over fifty peer-reviewed articles and chapters.
