Amytess Girgis is a doctoral candidate in Politics. Her research focuses on the evolution of the US labour movement and its relationship to broader social movement-building. She examines how precarity and changing political conditions exacerbate challenges to labour organising, how those conditions shape workers’ tactics in under-organised sectors, and how these trends situate the labour movement in relation to other social movement organisations. Her doctoral dissertation explores these themes through the lens of the Starbucks Workers United campaign. She draws on intensive fieldwork, organising documents, and work stoppage data to analyse how Starbucks workers sustain union organising amid exceptionally hostile conditions.
Amytess completed her MPhil in Politics (Comparative Government) at the University of Oxford in 2023, and her graduate study at Oxford has been supported by the Rhodes Scholarship. Prior to her time at Oxford, Amytess completed a BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan, where she was funded by the Penny & Roe Stamps Scholarship.
Research Interests
labour organisation in the United States
precarious work
power resources, political economy
worker social identity and intersectional organizing
social movements, political mobilization
industrial relations
