Matthew Carson is a senior, double majoring in sociology and political science. His departmental honors thesis in the sociology department examines the different ways in which labor unions organize. He is especially interested in how construction unions differ from other unions in their organizing approaches and the ways in which unions find different sources of leverage. He hopes that understanding how some approaches to organizing and wielding power are more conflictual, and how some are more anti-conflictual and thus more conservative, can help explain why some unions have adopted more progressive political orientations, while others have been more conservative, often putting them at odds with progressive causes and organizations that would seem to be their natural allies. After graduation, he plans to pursue a PhD in sociology or political science.