Photo of Kim Voss

Research Expertise and Interest

sociology, labor, social movements, inequality, higher education

Research Description

Kim Voss's  current research investigates the immigrant rights movement, examines dilemmas currently facing the U.S. labor movement, and analyzes the shifting terrain of U.S. higher education. In addition to publishing in academic journals in sociology, political science, and demography, she has written or edited six books: Rallying for Immigrant Rights (2011, with I. Bloemraad), Hard Work: Remaking the American Labor Movement (2006, with R. Fantasia), Rebuilding Labor: Organizing and Organizers in the New Union Movement (2004, with R. Milkman), Des Synidcats Domestiques: Repression Patronale et Resistance Syndicale Aux Etas-Unis (2003, with R. Fantasia), Inequality by Design: Cracking the Bell Curve Myth (1996, with five Berkeley colleagues), and The Making of American Exceptionalism: The Knights of Labor and Class Formation in the Nineteenth Century (1993).

Her latest publications are a forthcoming article in Social Problems: “Persistent Inequalities in College Completion, 1980–2010” (with Michael Hout and Kristin George), two 2020 articles in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies: “Movement or Moment? Lessons from the pro-immigrant movement in the United States and contemporary challenges,” (with I. Bloemraad) and “The Limits of Rights: Claims-making on behalf of immigrants” (with F. Silva and I. Bloemraad), and one (2020), “Been Down So Long, It Looks Like Up to Me: Shifting Targets, Changing Repertoires, and Internal Democracy in the U.S. Labor Movement” (with Pablo Gaston), in James Jasper and Braydon King, Protesters and Their Targets, Temple University Press. 

She has also co-written two recent research briefs with Tipping Point Community and three colleagues: Taking Count 2021: A Study on Poverty in the Bay Area and Taking Count 2020: A Study on Poverty in the Bay Area

 

In the News

Researchers unveil new initiative on human migration

UC Berkeley researchers today announced the launch of the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative, a joint project of faculty, researchers and students that will explore such timely issues as refugee crises, human rights, mmigration, nativism and border control concerns.

Featured in the Media

Please note: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or positions of UC Berkeley.
November 8, 2019
Lisa McCorkell and Sara Hinkley

Immigrant rights activists have been trying new strategies to advocate for refugees and undocumented people, including invoking human rights, civil rights, and American values. Berkeley Professors of Sociology Kim Voss and Irene Bloemraad surveyed California voters to find out which framing strategy works best. Contrary to popular logic, they found that the most effective framing strategy is the American values frame, showing a new path forward for pro-immigrant activism.

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