Daisy Rooks

Anne (Daisy) Rooks is a sociologist and labor historian in the United States. Her research focuses on labor union organizing.
Education
Rooks received a bachelor's degree in urban studies from Smith College in 1997. She received her master's degree in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2001.
She received her doctorate in sociology at UCLA in 2007.
Employment
From January 2008 to December 2008, Rooks was a visiting assistant professor in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University. As of January 2009, she is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Montana.
Research
Rooks' research focuses on how labor unions recruit, train and place staff, in particular organizing staff. She has studied the operations of the AFL-CIO's Organizing Institute and the staffing models of local, state, regional and national labor unions. In particular, she is interested in how staff are recruited and retained.
Rook's 2003 article, "The Cowboy Mentality: Organizers and Occupational Commitment in the New Labor Movement," sparked significant debate within the American labor movement. The article (and a longer-treatment book chapter based on the article) examines the occupational demands union organizers must cope with, such as travel, long hours and a demanding work environment. Rooks characterizes the culture of organizing as "the cowboy mentality." "The cowboy mentality" is an ideology. This ideology declares that union organizing is a superior form of work akin to religious involvement, and that labor union organizers must suffer low pay, long working hours, extreme working conditions, etc., because they are martyrs to "the cause" (e.g., the labor movement). Rooks argues that while "the cowboy mentality" strengthens commitment for many staff, it alienates women, minorities and older workers. Many workers' rights activists have used the study to argue that "...organized labor is in denial about the toll that the dominant culture of organizing...takes on organizers..." The study has generated a call for reform:
:" alarming number they'd been used as 'cannon fodder.' ...Rooks' study suggests that if the labor movement hopes to intensify its organizing efforts, it must do a better job of retaining organizers."
The study has been cited by Monthly Review and Dissent, the San Francisco Chronicle and international labor periodicals such as the Canadian journal Our Times.
Her work on California union membership has been cited by the Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chroncle (twice), and the Canadian labor journal Our Times, and cited by sociologist Ruth Milkman as an important influence.
Memberships
Rooks is a member of the American Sociological Association, the United Association for Labor Education, and the Allied Social Science Association.
Published works
Solely authored articles
*"The Cowboy Mentality: Organizers and Occupational Commitment in the New Labor Movement." Labor Studies Journal. Fall 2003.
*[http://www.labornotes.org/node/587 "Staff Organizers vs. Member Organizers Not the Issue: New Organizer Recruits Recognize Flaws in Staff-Centered Organizing Model."] Labor Notes. December 2002.
*"Worker Activism After Successful Union Organizing." Industrial & Labor Relations Review. January 2002.
Solely authored book chapters
*"Sticking It Out or Packing It In?: Organizer Retention in the New Labor Movement." In Rebuilding Labor: Organizing and Organizers in the New Union Movement. Ruth Milkman and Kim Voss, eds. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2003. ISBN 0801442656
Co-authored book chapters
*Milkman, Ruth and Rooks, Daisy. "California Union Membership: A Turn-of-the-Century Portrait." In The State of California Labor. Ruth Milkman, ed. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 2003.

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