Researching With Workers

Often, the best data source is the people living through it. Our members understand far more about the firms and industries they work in than most outside observers. Tapping this knowledge can provide a huge advantage for a researcher. Working with your base as a researcher presents unique opportunities and unique challenges. Mark Anner from Penn State’s School of Labor and Employment Relations will lead a discussion on best ways to approach worker-driven research on global supply chains with your base.

Mark Anner is the incoming Dean of the School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR) of Rutgers University, where he will be a distinguished professor. Prior to Rutgers, he was at Penn State University for 19 years where he was the founding director of the Center for Global Workers’ Rights and the founding director of the MPS program in Labor and Global Workers’ Rights. He holds a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University and a master’s degree in Latin American Studies from Stanford University. His field research has taken him to El Salvador, Honduras, Brazil, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Guatemala, and Mexico. He is currently working with labor scholars and activists in Latin America to develop a ‘worker-driven’ research methodology for global supply chains.