Cedric de Leon

Cedric de Leon is Professor of Sociology and Labor Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has published five books including Crisis! When Political Parties Lose the Consent to Rule (Stanford University Press, 2019) and The Origins of Right to Work (Cornell University Press, 2015). He writes on race, labor, and party politics and teaches courses in social theory, political sociology, organizing, and US labor history. From 2018 to 2022, Cedric directed the UMass Amherst Labor Center. He was the first person of color to do so. Prior to becoming an academic, he was an elected leader and staff organizer in the U.S. labor movement.