As an activist and cultural critic, Ross will explore the impact of a global economy on labour, urban life and the environment. A bold writer who is unafraid to immerse himself in his research, Ross has examined a wide range of workforces – from those in sweatshops to those inside New York City’s Silicon Alley. Ross’s writing calls into question the forces of globalization and seeks realistic solutions.

He will explain how and why our work life has become precarious and will discuss ideas and policies foundational to building a renewable jobs economy. He will also highlight the prospects of creating jobs that do not take an unsustainable toll on the environment in the face of mass unemployment.

Ross’s research interests include labour and work, urban and suburban studies, intellectual history, social and political theory, science, ecology and technology, and cultural studies.

He is a regular contributor to The Nation and Artforum magazines and New York’s Village Voice, and is the author of several books, including Nice Work if You Can Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times (New York University Press, 2009), Fast Boat to China: Corporate Flight and the Consequences of Free Trade – Lessons from Shanghai (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2006) and Low Pay, High Profile: The Global Push for Fair Labor (The New Press, 2004).

In addition, Ross was a 2001-2002 Guggenheim Fellow, the 1989-1992 Stauffer Bicentennial Fellow at Princeton University and the 1989-1990 Society for the Humanities Fellow at Cornell University.