Faculty groups representing about 1,000 academics have dropped out of the American Political Science Association’s annual conference, which is going ahead in two weeks despite a major hotel workers’ strike in Los Angeles.
For the past month, some political scientists have been calling for the conference, which planned to host 6,000 attendees, to be moved online or completely canceled in solidarity with Unite HERE Local 11, the union representing thousands of the city’s hotel workers.
With the political-science association standing its ground on holding the conference, some of its faculty groups are moving panels online and canceling events; some academics have withdrawn from the conference altogether.
In response to political scientists’ demands, the association said shutting down the event would cost the organization $2.8 million. Beyond the financial hit, the organization stressed that cancellation would have a negative impact on early career academics who use the opportunity to network and bolster applications in a tight faculty job market. Given the “short time remaining” before the event, APSA said relocating it entirely was not possible.
“We are in a no-win situation and understand that members may choose not to attend given the risk of a strike and the request of UNITE HERE Local 11 that APSA cancel the annual meeting,” the association wrote in a July 28 statement. “We respect those decisions. We also understand that there are costs over the medium term to continuing with the annual meeting.”
But many scholars disagreed with the association’s reasoning. Larry George, a professor of political science at California State University at Long Beach, said in an open letter on Wednesday that he found APSA’s response “unpersuasive,” and that canceling the event or moving it online remained “the most straightforward way for APSA to demonstrate genuine support for the striking workers.”
APSA did not respond to a request for comment from The Chronicle.
‘Disconnect’ and Solidarity
The hotel-workers union asked the association to cancel its conference in a letter on July 19. But in a 19-4 vote, the organization’s executive board chose to keep the event in Los Angeles.
Given the active strike at one of the conference hotels, the J.W. Marriott, APSA moved those in-person events to the Los Angeles Convention Center. Some members had booked hotel rooms at the Marriott; the association recommended that they consider staying with local colleagues or booking an Airbnb.
George and others feel that wasn’t enough. He pointed out that, with tens of thousands of workers on strike, the conference can’t totally avoid picket lines.
“I have no idea how an in-person convention can be held under those conditions,” George wrote, “without participants being confronted by striking workers or crossing picket lines somewhere.”
Much of the drama around the conference has played out online. Statements and letters have circulated. Pro-union academics are selling T-shirts to help cover reimbursement costs for people who decide to boycott the event. Some social-media exchanges debating how scholars should show solidarity with striking workers have gotten heated. One post on the association’s forum suggested extreme measures.
“APSA might try to persuade the Convention Center to allow registered meeting participants to bring sleeping bags to sleep over in one of the larger convention meeting rooms,” one user wrote. “Again this is a difficult ask, particularly given fire regulations. But the association could pay any extra costs associated with this arrangement.”
‘They’ve Made Up Their Mind’
Bernard Fraga, an associate professor of political science at Emory University, described “a severe disconnect” between the association and its members. Fraga, president of the association’s Latino Caucus, said a lack of communication from APSA contributed to the caucus’s decision to drop out of the event.
Fraga said that as Latino/a political scientists, standing in solidarity was particularly important given that most hotel workers come from similar immigrant backgrounds.
“We understand that workers who are calling for a living wage that enables them to live in the city they work in, are individuals from our community,” Fraga said. “We feel empathy for those workers.”
The group also promised to reimburse its members who already paid workshop fees. Fraga said that will come out of the Latino Caucus’s pockets. “The financial cost to the caucus is comparatively minor relative to the financial hardships that hotel workers are facing in Los Angeles,” he said.
Lida Maxwell, co-chair of the association’s Foundations of Political Theory division, said the around 740-member group has canceled its annual reception and business meeting at the conference, and has agreed to not hold any in-person gatherings.
Jennie Ikuta, co-chair of the association’s Political Theory and Philosophy division, said attending the conference while hotel staff are on strike, especially given its planned size of 6,000 attendees, “boggles her mind.”
“A part of me is like: Who do you think is going to clean your room? Do you think those spaces just magically clean themselves?” Ikuta said. She added: “Even if one doesn’t have pro-union sympathies, I wonder on a pragmatic level: What do people think is going to happen when they show up in L.A.?”
Still, political scientists said it seems unlikely that the event will be canceled or moved online. Alyssa Battistoni, an assistant professor of political science at Barnard College, said she believes the conference won’t be a good experience for those who decide to attend.
“At this point, it seems like they’ve made up their mind,” Battistoni said of APSA. “I think that’s a shame and it’s going to be a very disruptive conference for the people who do show up.”