Michelle Chen

Contributing Writer

@meeshellchen

Michelle Chen is a contributing writer for The Nation.

The VEGGI Farmers Cooperative.

How Did New Orleans’s Vietnamese Americans Recover After Katrina? How Did New Orleans’s Vietnamese Americans Recover After Katrina?

The community’s success is a model for solidarity across race and class in the face of natural disaster and political disenfranchisement.

Sep 30, 2015 / Michelle Chen

Preschoolers

In America, the Poorer You Are, the Poorer Your Children Will Be In America, the Poorer You Are, the Poorer Your Children Will Be

This country’s terrible social safety net is making it impossible for working-class parents to keep up with their wealthier peers.

Sep 28, 2015 / Michelle Chen

The Red Umbrella Project rallies outside City Hall.

Why Do Sex-Work Diversion Programs Fail? Why Do Sex-Work Diversion Programs Fail?

New York’s scheme to divert sex workers from the criminal justice system has often further criminalized them.

Sep 25, 2015 / Michelle Chen

Warehouse Workers of Los Angeles, Unite!

Warehouse Workers of Los Angeles, Unite! Warehouse Workers of Los Angeles, Unite!

Following in the footsteps of their fellow port truckers, California Cartage warehouse workers are demanding their fair share of the global economic pie.

Sep 23, 2015 / Michelle Chen

Why Is College So Expensive if Professors Are Paid So Little?

Why Is College So Expensive if Professors Are Paid So Little? Why Is College So Expensive if Professors Are Paid So Little?

These are educational professionals, and they need to be compensated like they are.

Sep 21, 2015 / Michelle Chen

Migrants walk through Serbia en route to Croatia.

Europe’s Handling of the Migrant Crisis Shows Just How Morally Bankrupt It Has Become Europe’s Handling of the Migrant Crisis Shows Just How Morally Bankrupt It Has Become

While the spotlight turns to refugees from violence, Europe keeps its poorest migrants in the dark.

Sep 18, 2015 / Michelle Chen

One of New York's high-rise housing projects.

What if You Couldn’t Talk to Your Own Landlord? What if You Couldn’t Talk to Your Own Landlord?

New York City’s Housing Authority has only six employees dedicated to managing language services across the 400,000-tenant system, and only two of them speak Chinese.

Sep 15, 2015 / Michelle Chen

A man leaves the headquarters of Uber in San Francisco.

This Is How Bad the Sharing Economy Is for Workers This Is How Bad the Sharing Economy Is for Workers

And this is how reformers and activists might win protections for Silicon Valley’s so-called “independent contractors.”

Sep 14, 2015 / Michelle Chen

Garment workers

Yes, Your T-Shirt Was ‘Made in LA’—and the Worker Got 4 Cents For It Yes, Your T-Shirt Was ‘Made in LA’—and the Worker Got 4 Cents For It

Why the sorry state of Los Angeles garment manufacturing should put serious attention on sweatshops—here in the US and across the world.

Sep 11, 2015 / Michelle Chen

University of Tennessee

Tennessee Higher Education Talks Big, Acts Cheap Tennessee Higher Education Talks Big, Acts Cheap

Statewide austerity measures leave campus workers doing more work for less pay.

Sep 9, 2015 / Michelle Chen

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