People at ILR

Ronald Applegate
people / faculty

Ronald Applegate

Dean’s Engagement Fellow
Global Labor and Work (GLW)

Overview

In addition to the foundational course in U.S labor history, Ron teaches courses on the history of U.S. economic development and contemporary innovations in community-based development. His research interest in the theory and practice of economic development, with a particular emphasis on collective action to establish inclusive governance and generate equitable outcomes, is rooted in prior work experience: coordinating community development programs for the Coalition for a Better Acre (Lowell, Massachusetts) and the Over-the-Rhine Housing Network (Cincinnati, Ohio). In his current capacity as the faculty advisor to ILR’s High Road Fellowship program, Ron has collaborated with ILR faculty in Buffalo to create courses designed to envelop students’ participation in engaged learning: both preparing students for their community immersion and deepening their critical reflections after their experience.

Publications

Journal Articles

  • Lou Jean Fleron, Ronald Applegate. 2004. Building a Two-Lane High Road: Unions and Economic Development in Western New York, Perspectives on Work . 8(1):10-12.

Book Chapters

  • Ronald Applegate. 2007. “Organizing for Equitable Economic Development: The Significance of Community Empowerment Organizations for Unions. in Labor in the New Urban Battlegrounds: Local Solidarity in a Global Economy . Ithaca, NY, United States: Cornell University Press, 2007. Lowell Turner and Daniel B. Cornfield. (53-72)

Professional Activities

  • Canalside Community Alliance’s Campaign for High Road Economic Development – Buffalo. Presented to International Labor and Employment Relations Association. Toronto - virtual meeting. 2020.
  • Canalside Community Alliance (CSCA) in Buffalo: High Road Economic Development for Living Wage Jobs. Presented to CRIMT - Centre de Recherche Interuniversitaire sur la Mondialisation et le Travail . Magog, Quebec. 2019.
  • ILR's Co-Lab in Buffalo: The Past and Present of Radical Collaboration. Presented to CRIMT Partnership Project & ILR Worker Institute. ILR Worker Institute, 570 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022. 2019.
  • “Neoclassical Economics and the Reconceptualization of Economic Governance: Lessons from the 1930s” . Presented to Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics . Paris, France. 2009.