I am engaged in a range of projects which seek to use research, analysis, and teaching to support solutions to public problems. In particular, I am interested in supporting grassroots, community-based, and democratic initiatives which empower common people to have a say in development, environment, health, and labor issues which affect their lives. I am currently most focused on workplace health and safety and environmental justice issues.

For instance, since 1997, I have been studying Nike's production around the world, and its impacts on workers, communities, and the environment. I have issued a number of reports on factory conditions in Vietnam, including "Smoke From a Hired Gun," which critiques Ernst & Young's monitoring of Nike factories in Vietnam; "Beginning to Just Do It," an analysis of improvements Nike has made in one Vietnamese factory; and a critique of the Tuck Business School report on wages paid to Nike workers.

I have also been working with a coalition of groups in the US, Hong Kong, and China to conduct capacity building and training projects on health and safety issues in factories of US multinationals operating in China. The project helps to strengthen health and safety committees inside three large footwear factories in Guangdong Province in southern China, and build the capacity of workers to directly evaluate and improve health, safety, and environmental conditions in these factories. You can download the report on the China Capacity Building Project. This project was funded by the MacArthur Foundation and a special grant made possible by the Beastie Boys.

I am also working on a capacity building project for NGOs and unions in Indonesia. This project is designed to support local citizen efforts to play a role in evaluating the health, safety, and environmental conditions of factories producing for multinational corporations. We recently completed a one-week training in Jakarta for 30 young Indonesian leaders. This work is also being supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

More generally, I am interested in advancing independent monitoring systems for manufacturing practices around the world. Towards this end, Archon Fung and I have written a number of proposals on information forcing strategies for the global apparel industry, and for the university-logo garment industry in particular.

I am also currently working with a number of community groups in the U.S. to build the capacity of "fenceline communities" to monitor environmental emissions from industrial facilities. We recently collaborated on an "Air Monitoring Fair" in New Sarpy Louisiana to build knowledge of new technologies and organizing strategies for community participation in air toxics monitoring. My research on the bucket brigades has built on this engagement with community groups and NGOs.

Check out these links to groups working on these issues:

Campaign for Labor Rights: http://summersault.com/~agj/clr/

Clean Clothes Campaign: www.cleanclothes.org

Ethical Trading Initiative: www.ethicaltrade.org

Fair Labor Association: www.fairlabor.org

Global Exchange: www.globalexchange.org

International Labour Organisation: www.ilo.org

International Labor Rights Fund: www.laborrights.org

National Labor Committee: www.nlcnet.org

New Ideas in Pollution Regulation: www.worldbank.org/nipr

Refinery Reform Campaign: www.refineryreform.org/

SA8000: www.cepaa.org

Sweatshop Watch: www.sweatshopwatch.org

UNITE Stop Sweatshops Campaign: www.uniteunion.org

Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO): www.wiego.org

Workers Rights Consortium: www.workersrights.org