His interests lie in the politics of social movements. He has written on protest, strikes, and the trajectory of the American labor movement and labor policy following the New Deal. Currently he is working on a comparative historical study of labor politics in the American Midwest. He is also engaged in collaborative research projects on social movement coalitions, why they come together and how they succeed or fail, on the timing and impacts of state repression during the civil rights movement, as well as work on protests targeting corporations.