Workers who have suffered psychologically at the hands of their employers in the state of Georgia have advocates in End Workplace Abuse, “a volunteer-led and volunteer-driven corps of advocates for workers’ rights with a focus on psychological safety in the workplace,” according to their webpage. Their push for the promotion, lobbying, and passing of a bill that would protect employees from predatory and traumatic workspace practices is a welcome change in the cultural landscape of Georgia as a workplace.
As an independent researcher and survivor of workplace abuse in libraries, the idea of legislative measures to address systemic failures in workspaces often thought of as inclusive and welcoming, intrigued me. Based on data collected over the last eleven years within the field of library and information science, I created my presentation, “Accidental Social Science: A Study of Classism in Academic Libraries“ for the joint Georgia Libraries and Society of Georgia Archivists conference held in Athens, GA.
Watch my virtual submission for insight into how classism, dysfunction, and willful ignorance present as signs of workplace abuse in academic [and other] libraries and learn how it’s preventing the profession as a whole from retaining BIPOC, Disabled, LGBTQIA+, and other library workers who are experiencing socio-economic barriers.
Humble Ethical Researchers Co. 