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Professor and Chair of Labor Studies
As a Labor Geographer, Steve McFarland studies the ways that organized labor and social movements create and negotiate changing urban landscapes. He has published articles and book chapters on the history of U.S. union halls, workers’ mapmaking, urban sprawl and union strength, Confederate monument removal fights, and immigrant workers’ political participation.
Dr. McFarland joined the Labor Studies faculty in 2020. Prior to that, he was Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Tampa. He has taught as an adjunct at the City University of New York, Sarah Lawrence College, and Columbia University.
Dr. McFarland grew up in Brooklyn, NY. He is a proud and active member of the California Faculty Association, and is a CFA delegate to the LA County Federation of Labor. He has been active with the Pasadena Tenants Union’s successful 2021-2022 campaign for rent control, and in support of Starbucks Workers United. He enjoys hiking, biking, gardening, and documentary film.
Research Interests
Labor geography, geographic information systems, cartography, urban social movements, labor history, labor and climate justice, race and labor
Why This Subject Matters
Organized workers acting in solidarity have immense power to win rights and respect in the workplace, and build justice, equality, and democracy in the world. Labor studies helps us learn the lessons of the generations that have fought for us to have these things, and teaches skills and perspectives that empower us to make our world a better place today, and for the generations to come.