Advancing Worker Justice through Research


The IRLE is committed to conducting participatory research, critical education, and public service to build on our strong record of engagement with the diverse communities of Los Angeles.

IRLE faculty and staff conduct rigorous, social science research that is applied, policy-driven, and participatory, to improve worker rights and elevate labor standards, create jobs that are good for communities, and strengthen immigrant and civil rights, especially for students and youth. Our research agenda focuses on the following areas: 

  • Immigration 
  • Economic justice 
  • Young workers 
  • Black employment 
  • The future of work and worker organizing
  • Labor and working-class history
  • Global solidarity
  • Workplace occupational safety and health

Access IRLE Publications and Reports

IRLE reports and research briefs are available for download both on our website and also via UC’s eScholarship Publishing which is an open access publishing platform subsidized by the University of California, managed by the California Digital Library, and offered free of charge to UC-affiliated departments, research units, publishing programs and individual scholars.

IRLE’s Publications page is available here.

IRLE’s eScholarship Publishing archive is available here.


Archived Research