Social Justice & Community
-
Conference organizers, potential participants fault US policies for falling attendance
This year’s International Conference on Supersymmetry and Unification of Fundamental Interactions is planned for mid-August at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Conference cochair Howard Haber expects about 150 participants, down from around 200 in recent years. He says that some international scientists have canceled their participation because they are “spooked by stories in the…
-
Undocumented day laborers cleared debris after the Eaton Fire. Now they’re afraid to work
Sociology Professor Juan Pedroza discussed the economic impacts of immigrant deportation. “We know raids and deportations harm the general labor market, including both immigrant workers and US households that rely on immigrant labor,” he said.
-
Mike Rotkin, former mayor and an essential figure in Santa Cruz progressive activism, dies at 79
Mike Rotkin arrived in Santa Cruz in 1969, not long after the University of California, and soon not only became a pillar of UCSC’s Community Studies Program but launched into the progressive politics that reshaped the city. Additional coverage in Santa Cruz Sentinel and on KSBW.
-
A dawn bus ride, a Capitol showdown and a last-minute deal: How Santa Cruz activists fought health care cuts
Students from UC Santa Cruz’s Everett Program for Technology and Social Change travelled to Sacramento to urge California lawmakers to reject Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed cuts to Medi-Cal for undocumented immigrants.
-
Celebrating Pride while fighting Trump’s anti-LGBTQ policies
Phil Hammack, professor of psychology & director of the Sexual & Gender Diversity Lab at UC Santa Cruz, discusses how LGBTQ+ communities are celebrating and fighting back against the Trump administration’s anti-LGBTQ policies.
-
Scams Targeting Immigrants Take Advantage of Fears of Immigration Status and Deportation
Juan Pedroza, a sociology professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said uncertainty and rapid changes to immigration laws and regulations “opens up new opportunities for scam artists to get creative.”
-
Watsonville High co-valedictorian Jesus Nolasco-Vega takes organizational skills outside of classroom
Jesus Nolasco-Vega took part in a Youth Participatory Action Research project, which allowed him to work closely with UC Santa Cruz students and faculty to understand and address mental health issues through research and community engagement efforts.
-
US Aims to Abolish Birthright Citizenship: Italy Already Knows the Consequences
Associate Professor of Sociology Camilla Hawthorne coauthored an opinion article arguing that Italy’s upcoming popular referendum on citizenship offers important lessons for the birthright citizenship debate in the United States.
-
How Real ID Excludes Real Americans
Catherine S. Ramírez, professor of Latin American and Latino Studies wrote about the challenges many Americans face in getting Real ID’s, especially for those who have changed their names at some point in their lives.
-
Data Shows Racial Disparities in Toxic Cleanup Times in SF
“There are many reasons why these disparities could be, but the fact that they exist means regulatory agencies should take social vulnerability and race into account when prioritizing which sites to clean up first,” said Lindsey Dillon, associate professor of sociology at UC Santa Cruz, who is part of a research group that advises the…
-
In the Medical System, the Concept of General ‘Safety’ Can Be a Pretext to Harm Pregnant Women
Existing in a police state where cops are embedded in hospitals or sicced onto people experiencing mental health crises “produces premature death,” says Carlos Martinez, a public health researcher and assistant professor at UC Santa Cruz.
-
¿Cómo la falta de trabajadores del campo podría impactar la economía local?
Associate Professor of Sociology Juan Pedroza discussed the economic impacts of immigration policies that are causing some farmworkers to fear going to work. “La economía está en un estatus frágil y menos trabajadores significa menos cosecha y más riesgo, no solamente para los que están trabajando, sino para todos nosotros que necesitamos las cosechas para…