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2021-2022 Online Discussions

Discussion #1
Racial Capitalism in Colonial America, December 10, 2021

Etienne C. Toussaint, Assistant Professor, South Carolina School of Law, discussed his paper, “The Spirit of Racial Capitalism in Colonial America.” Co-sponsored with APPEAL. 

 

Discussion #2
Taxation and Law and Political Economy, December 15, 2021 

This discussion focused on a groundbreaking article by co-authors Jeremy Bearer-Friend, Ari Glogower, Ariel Jurow Kleiman & Clinton G. Wallace, forthcoming in the Ohio State Law Journal. 

Discussion #3
Constitutionalism, Neoliberalism, and Economic Justice, January 28, 2022

Professor Julie A. Nice led a discussion of her paper, “Constitutionalism, Neoliberalism, and Economic Justice.” The paper maps the emerging scholarship regarding constitutionalism and economic justice within the United States. Scholars with diverse expertise ranging from economics and political economy to US constitutional law, US legal history, US poverty law, and comparative social and economic rights are turning increased attention to the relationship between constitutionalism and economic justice. Co-sponsored with APPEAL.

 

Discussion #4
Navajo Land and Economic Development, February 10, 2022

Ezra Rosser, in conversation with Angela Riley, Robert Williams, and Lucy Jewel, led a discussion of his new book, A Nation Within: Navajo Land and Economic Development. 

 

Discussion #5
Against White Feminism, February 24, 2022

This discussion explored Rafia Zakaria’s new book, Against White Feminism, a counter-manifesto to white feminism’s alignment with colonial, patriarchal, and white supremacist ideals to center women of color. Participants considered the legacy of the British feminist imperialist savior complex and what Zakaria describes as “the colonial thesis that all reform comes from the West” to the condescension of the white feminist–led “aid industrial complex” and the conflation of sexual liberation as the “sum total of empowerment.” The discussion built on the work of intersectional feminists, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Adrienne Rich, and Audre Lorde.  

 

Discussion #6
Keeping the 'Crit' in Critical Tax: Lessons from LatCrit and CRT, March 10, 2022

This discussion focused on the body of scholarship and the long-running conference that go by the name "Critical Tax." Scholars and teachers in this area do not necessarily agree with each other about the boundaries of critical tax. The conversation evaluated in what sense, if any, this work is properly described as "critical" (and why that does, or doesn't, matter). 

Panelists

  • Diane Klein, Visiting Professor of Law (Remote), Southern University Law Center
  • Anthony Infanti, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
  • Frank Valdes, University of Miami School of Law
  • Andre Smith, American University Washington College of Law 

Discussion #7
Derrick Bell, Racism, and Well-Being, April 21, 2022

Kim Clark, Dr. K. Parameswaran, and others offered a practicum on teaching and living the ethics and values of the movement begun by Professor Derrick Bell. Although race may not be at the center of our legal considerations, bias is, and racial bias is salient to the thinking mind. How can this cognitive focused teaching and practice of law advance better decision-making in our personal lives, our communities and the larger society? What healing and peace can this perspective bring to our lives? Hear from the panelists how understanding the “vexing bond of race and power” leads to liberation of one’s self and how we become energized by meeting this challenge.

2020-2021 Online Workshops

Workshop #1 
Pandemic Inequality, September 12, 2020 ➡️ Watch on YouTube

A panel discussion on the social-capital disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact in exacerbating inequality. 

 

Moderators

  • Athena D. Mutua, ClassCrits Vice President, University at Buffalo School of Law
  • Thomas E. Kleven, ClassCrits Board Member, Thurgood Marshall School of Law

Presentations

  • Thomas E. Kleven, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, “COVID-19: An Overview of Where We Stand”
  • Alicia Ely Yamin, Harvard Law School, “When Misfortune Becomes (More) Injustice: Evolving Human Rights Struggles for Health and Social Equality in the COVID-19 Pandemic”
  • Erika K. Wilson, University of North Carolina School of Law, “COVID-19, Racial Disparities & Educational Inequality”
  • Emeka Duruigbo, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, “The COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on Africa’s Efforts to Develop and Unify”
  • Emily A. Spieler, Northeastern University School of Law, “When ‘Essential’ Workers Work: Risks to Vulnerable People in the Midst of Dysfunction”
  • Andrew Hammond, University of Florida Levin College of Law, “The COVID-19 Pandemic as Preview: The Welfare State’s Weaknesses amid the Climate Crisis”

Workshop #2
Introducing the Journal of Law and Political Economy, October 16, 2020

A roundtable discussion featuring members of the Editorial Board of the new peer-reviewed journal, the Journal of Law and Political Economy, and short presentations by some of the authors appearing in Volume 1, Issue 1.

 

Moderators

  • Eric George, Managing Editor, Journal of Law and Political Economy
  • Danielle Hart, ClassCrits Board Member, Southwestern Law School

Presenters

  • Angela P. Harris, Professor Emerita, UC Davis School of Law, Co-Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Law and Political Economy
  • Jay Varellas, PhD Student, Department of Political Science, UC Berkeley, Co-Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Law and Political Economy

Discussants

  • Corinne Blalock, Executive Director of the Law and Political Economy Project, Research Scholar at Yale Law School
  • Veena Dubal, Professor of Law, University of California, Hastings College of the Law
  • Martha T. McCluskey, Professor, William J. Magavern Faculty Scholar
  • Jamee K. Moudud, Professor of Economics, Sarah Lawrence College and Board Member, Association for the Promotion of Political Economy and the Law (APPEAL)
  • Natsu Taylor Saito, Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Law, University of Georgia Law School 
  • Sandeep Vaheesan, Legal Director, Open Markets Institute 
  • Lua Kamal Yuille, Professor of Law and Affiliated Professor, Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, University of Kansas 

Commentator: Jonathan Simon, Associate Dean of the Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program at the UC Berkeley School of Law

 

Workshop #3
Democracy, Social Justice, and the 2020 Election, November 14, 2020

A roundtable and audience discussion on early reactions to the 2020 federal elections focused on people’s initial reactions to the impact of the election process and its outcome on various aspects of social life:  the future of democracy, voting rights, workers’ rights, health, the environment, economic, social and racial justice, international relations, immigration policy, promoting a progressive agenda, and other issues facing our society and the world community. 

 

Moderators

  • Thomas Kleven, Thurgood Marshall School of Law
  • Antonia Eliason, University of Mississippi School of Law

Panelists

  • Lua Kamal Yuille, University of Kansas School of Law, The Future of Democracy
  • Lucy Jewel, University of Tennessee College of Law, Critical Rhetoric and Trump’s Propaganda
  • Antonia Eliason, University of Mississippi School of Law, Winning the South
  • Robert Howse, NYU School of Law, International Relations
  • Diane Uchimiya, Creighton University School of Law, Immigration Policy
  • Lynn D. Lu, CUNY School of Law, Economic Justice and the Social Safety Net
  • Rashmi Dyal-Chand, Northeastern University School of Law, Poverty and Economic Development
  • Tiffany C. Graham, Touro College Law Center, Racial Justice
  • Diane Frey, San Francisco State University, Workers’ Rightsa
  • Nicolas F. Stump, West Virginia University College of Law, The Environment

Workshop #4
Impromptu Round-Table Discussion on The Coup, January 16, 2021

Opening remarks: Anthony Farley, The James Campbell Matthews Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence at Albany Law School and Tiffany C. Graham, Associate Professor of Law at Touro Law School. The purpose of this event was to provide a safe space for our ClassCrits community to connect and discuss the events at the Capitol. Co-hosted by Victoria Haneman, Lucy Jewel, and Brian Frye.

 

Workshop #5
Online Junior Scholar Workshop, January 22, 2022

 

Workshop #6
Presumed Incompetent, February 19, 2021 ➡️ Watch on YouTube

This panel brought together one of the co-editors and several contributors to Presumed Incompetent II: Race, Class, Power and Resistance of Women in Academia (Utah State University Press, 2020). The panel discusses the formidable obstacles that women of color encounter in the academic workplace and the tenacity and creativity that they deploy to overcome these barriers. As law schools are called to grapple with systemic injustice and to embrace anti-racist pedagogy, the struggles and victories of women of color offer valuable lessons on best practices to recruit, retain, and promote faculty who share this goal and eagerly embrace this challenge. 

 

Panelists & Moderator

  • Carmen G. Gonzalez, Morris I. Leibman Professor of Law, Loyola University Chicago School of Law
  • Sahar Aziz, Professor of Law, Chancellor's Social Justice Scholar, Middle East Legal Scholar, and Director of the Center for Security, Race and Rights, Rutgers Law School
  • Adrien K. Wing, Bessie Dutton Murray Professor of Law & Associate Dean for International Programs, University of Iowa College of Law
  • Laura M. Padilla, Professor of Law, California Western School of Law
  • Athena Mutua, Professor of Law, Floyd H. & Hilda L. Hurst Faculty Scholar SUNY Buffalo Law School (Moderator)

Workshop #7
Racial Capitalism, March 10, 2021 ➡️ Watch on YouTube

In recent years, interest in racial capitalism has exploded in several disciplines, including history, political theory, and cultural studies. What does “racial capitalism” mean? What is, or should be, the relationship of this framework to Critical Race Theory and settler colonialism theory? What might an understanding of legal doctrines, institutions, and processes add to racial capitalism scholarship? This panel brings together scholars whose cutting-edge research projects investigate markets, politics, and white supremacy. 

 

Panelists & Moderator

  • Abbye Atkinson, Assistant Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Panelist)
  • Andrea Freeman, Professor of Law, University of Hawaii Richardson School of Law (Panelist)
  • Athena Mutua, Professor of Law, Floyd H. & Hilda L. Hurst Faculty Scholar, University at Buffalo School of Law, State University of New York (Panelist)
  • Daria Roithmayr, Richard L. and Antoinette S. Kirtland Professor of Law, University of Southern California School of Law (Panelist)
  • Natsu Taylor Saito, Distinguished University Professor, Georgia State University School of Law (Commentator)
  • Angela P. Harris, Professor Emerita, University of California, Davis School of Law (Moderator)

Workshop #8
Queering Class, April 16, 2021

A roundtable discussion on the intersection of LGBTQIA issues, law, and political economy praxis. 20 scholars and activists. 4 hours. 4 questions. 1 collective conversation about queerness and class. This extended virtual roundtable discussion brought together diverse scholars and activists from a range of fields to advance the collaborative project of envisioning solutions to the problems particular to the intersection of class and queerness. Cosponsored with the University of Kansas School of Law.