Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven Award

The Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven Award is given annually by the Critical Political Science section of the American Political Science Association (APSA). It recognizes an activist group, in the region of the annual meeting of the APSA, that puts into practice the ideals of Critical Political Science, “making the study of political science relevant to building a more democratic and egalitarian economic, social, and political order.”

2023 Recipient:
Food Chain Workers Alliance

2023 Committee:
Wendy Sarvasy, William Sokoloff, Frances Fox Piven (honorary)

The Food Chain Workers Alliance (FCWA) is the recipient of the 2023 Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven Award, because it has forged a unique coalition for radical change. The FCWA brings workers together across the food chain, and it brings labor organizing to the agrifood movement. By connecting these struggles, the FCWA works to advance both social justice for workers and the democratization of the global agrifood system. To achieve these ends, the FCWA supports unionization campaigns, brings worker demands into key policy fights, runs a fellowship program for organizers, and provides a space for building solidarity between urban and rural food workers. In short, the FCWA shows how some of the most exploited workers by forming coalitions can demonstrate how building worker power contributes to transforming our food system.

Past Recipients
2022: Hoodstock, Montreal
2021: Familias Unidas por la Justicia, Burlington, Washington
2020: East Side Arts Alliance and Cultural Center, Oakland, California
2019: Black Lives Matter, DC
2018: Young Abolitionists, Boston
2017: LeftRoots, San Francisco
2016: Urban Tree Connection, Philadelphia

Additional Recipients »

Deadline for nominations: April 1, 2024

Award Committee