Description
This course aims to create a critical dialogue about the role of law in structuring wealth inequality and its potential role in remedying such inequality. The interdisciplinary course materials that we will be using throughout the semester have been selected to assist students in engaging in critical analysis about the roles of settler colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy and ableism in structuring law and poverty, as well as law’s role in structuring those systems of meaning, control and distribution. The course will explore both specific questions and histories concerning public benefits, disaster relief, housing, imprisonment, immigration and other legal issues facing low-income populations as well as broad questions about how we might conceptualize governance and the role of law reform in social movements aimed at redistributing wealth and life chances.
Schedule
Week 1
(August 21, 23)
Paul Kivel, “Social Service or Social Change?” in The Revolution Will Not Be Funded (ed. INCITE!).
Joan Olsson, “Detour-Spotting for White Anti-Racists.”
Conor Friedersdorf, “Ferguson’s Conspiracy Against Black Citizens: How the city’s leadership harassed and brutalized their way to multiple civil-rights violations,” The Atlantic, March 5, 2015. Available at: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/03/ferguson-as-a-criminal-conspiracy-against-its-black-residents-michael-brown-department-of-justice-report/386887/
Optional:
Cheryl Harris, “Whiteness as Property,” in Critical Race Studies: The Key Writings that Formed the Movement, (eds. Crenshaw et al.) (1996)
Andrea Smith, “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing,” in Color of Violence (ed. Incite!) (2006).
Week 2
(August 28, August 30)
Frances Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward, Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare, Chapters 1, 8, 10.
Week 3
(September 6)
Kenneth J. Neubeck and Noel A. Cazenave, Welfare Racism: Playing the Race Card Against America’s Poor, Chapter 2, “Conceptualizing Welfare Racism”
Wyman v. James, 400 U.S. 309 (1971)
Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U. S. 471 (1970)
Week 4
(September 11, 13) Guest Speaker: Huy Nguyen
Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254 (1970)
Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
Regulating the Poor, Chapter 11, 12.
Steven Greenhouse, Many Participants in Workfare Take the Place of City Workers, N.Y TIMES, Apr. 13, 1998, at A1.
Optional:
Blum, Perina and Defilipis, “Why Welfare is a Queer Issue,” 26 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 201 (2000). )
Spade, Dean, “Compliance is Gendered,” in Transgender Rights (ed. Currah, Minter, Juang)
United States v. City of New York, 359 F.3d 83 (2d Cir. 2004).
Week 5
(September 18, 20) Prof. Rachel Luft Guest Speaker
From What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race, and the State of the Nation, Alisa Bierria, Mayaba Liebenthal, and INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, “To Render Ourselves Visible: Women of Color Organizing and Hurricane Katrina”
Rachel Luft, “Racialized Disaster Patriarchy: An Intersectional Model for Understanding Disaster Ten Years After Hurricane Katrina,” Feminist Formations, Vol. 28, Issue 1, Summer 2016, p. 1-26
Charles D. Ellison, “Race and Class Are the Biggest Issues Around Hurricane Harvey and We Need to Start Talking About Them,” The Root, August 29, 2017, http://www.theroot.com/race-and-class-are-the-biggest-issues-around-hurricane-1798536183.
Optional:
Watch “’Resilience,’ ‘Recovery’ & REALITY” at https://vimeo.com/137311942
Bill Quigley, New Orleans Pain Index at Ten: Who Was Left Behind, Facing South, July 20, 2015, http://www.southernstudies.org/2015/07/new-orleans-katrina-pain-index-at-10-who-was-left-.html
Candace Bernd, “No Toilet, No Ventilation”: Prisoners Describe Horrific Conditions in Harvey’s Flood Zone,” Truth-Out, September 8, 2017, http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/41874-no-toilet-no-ventilation-prisoners-describe-horrific-conditions-in-harvey-s-flood-zone.
From What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race, and the State of the Nation, Kalamu ya Salaam,”Introduction: Below the Water Line,” Charmaine Neville, “How We Survived the Flood,” Malik Rahim, “This is Criminal,” Jared Sexton, “The Obscurity of Black Suffering.”
Week 6
(September 25, 27) Guest Speaker Sept. 27, Annie Chung
Dorothy E. Roberts, “Feminism, Race, and Adoption Policy,” in Color of Violence (ed. Incite!) (2006).
Ellen M. Barry, “Parents in Prison, Children in Crisis” in Outsiders Within (ed. Trenka, et al)
Loretta J. Ross, “The Color of Choice: White Supremacy and Reproductive Justice” in Color of Violence (ed. Incite!) (2006).
Optional:
Melissa Chadburn, Resilience Is Futile: How Well-Meaning Nonprofits Perpetuate Poverty, July 14, 2015, Jezebel, http://jezebel.com/resilience-is-futile-how-well-meaning-nonprofits-perpe-1716461384.
Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark & Kekek Jason Todd Stark, “Flying the Coop: ICWA and the Welfare of Indian Children” in Outsiders Within (ed. Trenka, et al)
Dorothy E. Roberts, “Racism and Patriarchy in the Meaning of Motherhood,” 1 Am. U. J. Gender & L. 25 (1993)
Week 7
(October 2, 4)
Julia Sudbury, “Rethinking Antiviolence Strategies: Lessons from the Black Women’s Movement in Britain,” in Color of Violence (ed. Incite!).
Andrea J. Ritchie, “Law Enforcement Violence Against Women of Color,” in Color of Violence (ed. Incite!)
Critical Resistance and INCITE!, “Gender Violence and the Prison Industrial Complex”, in Color of Violence (ed. Incite!).
Patricia Allard, “Crime, Punishment and Economic Violence” in Color of Violence (ed. Incite!).
Optional:
Loïc Wacquant, Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity, excerpt on TWEN.
Ana Clarissa Rojas Durazo, “Medical Violence Against People of Color and the Medicalization of Domestic Violence,” in Color of Violence (ed. Incite!).
Sista II Sista, “Sistas Makin’ Moves: Collective Leadership for Personal Transformation and Social Justice,” in Color of Violence (ed. Incite!).
Week 8
(October 9, 11)
Guest Speaker, Beth Leonard
Tenants Union of Washington, “Subsidized Housing & Section 8,” at http://www.tenantsunion.org/en/rights/section/subsidized-housing-section-8
Matthew Desmond, “Poor Black Women Are Evicted at Alarming Rates, Setting off a Chain of Hardship,” MacArthur Foundation: How Housing Matters (March 2014) at https://www.macfound.org/media/files/HHM_Research_Brief_-_Poor_Black_Women_Are_Evicted_at_Alarming_Rates.pdf
Department of Housing and Urban Development v. Rucker, 535 U.S. 125 (2002)
Vernal Coleman, “Section 8 tenants flee Seattle’s high rents, compete for housing in smaller cities,” The Seattle Times (November 18, 2016) at https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/northwest/section-8-tenants-flee-seattles-high-rents-compete-for-whats-left/
Nina Shapiro, “Time running out on Settle Family’s ‘Golden Ticket’ to landing a home,” The Seattle Times (September 29, 2015) at https://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/time-running-out-on-seattle-familys-golden-ticket-to-housing/
Angela McNair Turner, “The Elephant in the Hearing Room: Colorblindness in Section 8 Voucher Termination Hearings,” 13 Berkeley J. Afr.-Am. L. & Pol’y 45 (2011)
Alan W. Houseman & Linda E. Perle, “Securing Equal Justice for All: A Brief History of Civil Legal Assistance in the United States,” Ctr. For Law & Soc. Pol’y 3 (Jan. 2007)
“2015 Washington State Civil Legal needs Study Update,” (October 2015) at http://ocla.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CivilLegalNeedsStudy_October2015_V21_Final10_14_15.pdf
Week 9
(October 16, 18)
Patricia Sully Guest speaker October 18
Review the website for Yes to SCS, https://www.yestoscs.org/
Harm Reduction 101 Video from HRAC Denver, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7epsLmN604
Katharine Q. Seelye, “In Heroin Crisis, White Families Seek Gentler War on Drugs,” New York Times, Oct 30, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/us/heroin-war-on-drugs-parents.html?mcubz=1
“Heroine and Prescription Opiate Task Force Final Report and Recommendations,” 2016
Carl Hart on Democracy Now, January 6, 2014, https://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/6/drugs_arent_the_problem_neuroscientist_carl
Jacob Sullum, “Hyperbole Hurts: The Surprising Truth About Methamphetamine,” February 20, 2014, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2014/02/20/hyperbole-hurts-the-surprising-truth-about-methamphetamine/#93526029f16e
Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, “Who Uses Crack and Why,” https://www.cjpf.org/who-uses-crack-cocaine-and-why/
Jurriann van Eerten, “Portugal, Fifteen Years of Decriminalized Drug Policy,” Aljazeera, Nov 15, 2016, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/10/portugal-fifteen-years-decriminalised-drug-policy-161015091127668.html
American Civil Liberties Union, “Racial Disparities in Sentencing,” Submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, October 27, 2014, https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/141027_iachr_racial_disparities_aclu_submission_0.pdf
“Your Brain on Drug Policy” PSA http://www.slate.com/articles/video/video/2017/04/rachael_leigh_cook_s_classic_drug_spot_remade_about_racism_video.html
Week 10
(October 23, 24)
Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine, Chapters 2, 14, 16, 20.
Week 11
(October 30, November 1)
Angela Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete? Chapters 1, 2, 3.
GenerationFIVE, “Ending Child Sexual Abuse: A Transformative Justice Handbook,” at http://www.generationfive.org/the-issue/transformative-justice/.
Optional:
“Their Eyes Were Watching Cops: An interview with Joaquin Cienfuegos,” in Upping the Anti: A Journal of Theory and Action, Number 13. http://uppingtheanti.org/journal/article/13-joaquin-cienfuegos/
Ruth Wilson Gilmore, “Globalisation and US Prison Growth: From Military Keynesianism to post-Keynesian Militarism.” Race & Class 1999: 40; 171
Week 12
(November 6, 8) Guest speaker, Nov. 8, Sandy Restrepo from Colectiva Legal del Pueblo
Harsha Walia, Undoing Border Imperialism, “What is Border Imperialism?” p. 36-78.
David Bacon, “Displacement and Migration” in Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants, (Beacon Press) (2008)
Marisa Franco and Carlos Garcia, “The Deportation Machine Obama Built for President Trump,” The Nation, June 27, 2016, https://www.thenation.com/article/the-deportation-machine-obama-built-for-president-trump/
Jawziya F. Zaman, “Why I Left Immigration Law,” Dissent, July 12, 2017, https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/left-immigration-law
Yana Kunichoff, “Sanctuary in your city….,” In These Times, May 17, 2017, http://inthesetimes.com/features/sanctuary_cities_movement_trump.html
Rachel Stoeve, “Immigrant Detainees’ Hunger Strike Draws Attention to Legal Grey Area,” yes! Magazine, http://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/immigrant-detainee-s-hunger-strike-draws-attention-to-legal-grey-area
Optional:
Julianne Ong Hing, Home in Name Only, ColorLines magazine, (October 2009) available at http://colorlines.com/archives/2009/10/home_in_name_only.html
Deepa Fernandes, “The Immigration Industrial Complex” in Targeted: Homeland Security and the Business of Immigration, (Seven Story Press) (2007)
Jennifer M. Chacón, “Unsecured Borders: Immigration Restrictions, Crime Control, and National Security” 39 Conn. L. Rev. 1827 (Especially sections II(A)(1), (2), (3), and (4) – The Construction of the “Illegal” Alien, The “Illegal Alien” as a Criminal Threat, The Ever Widening Category of “Criminal Aliens” and “The Modern Myth of Migrant Criminality”, and Section IV Removal Policies Also Fail as Crime and Immigration Control”)
Max Blumenthal, “Why Immigrant Detainees are Turning to Civil Disobedience,” The Nation, http://www.thenation.com/article/179987/why-immigrant-detainees-are-turning-civil-disobedience#
David Bacon, “Growing Clash Between Immigrant Rights Activists and Washington Power Brokers,” Truthout 2013 http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/19564-growing-clash-between-immigrant-rights-activists-and-washington-power-brokers
Esther Morales Guzman, Imprisonment, Deportation, and Family Separation: My American Nightmare, Social Justice Vol. 36, No. 2 (2009 -2010)
Daysi Diaz-Strong, Christina Gómez, María E. Luna-Duarte, Erica R. Meiners and Luvia Valentin, “Organizing Tensions —From the Prison to the Military-Industrial Complex,” Social Justice, Vol. 36, No. 2 (116), (2009-2010), pp. 73-84
Jenna Loyd, et al, “Thinking (and Moving) Beyond Walls and Cages: Bridging Immigrant Justice and Anti-Prison Organizing in the United States,” Social Justice Vol. 36, No. 2 (2009-2010)
Week 13
(November 13, 15)
A.J. Withers, Disability Politics and Theory pp. 13-120
Norma Erevelles, Disability in the New World Order, Chapter 2 of Color of Violence
Gabriella Coleman, “The Politics of Rationality: Psychiatric Survivors’ Challenge to Psychiatry”
Also look at the website of the Icarus Project, theicarusproject.net.
Optional:
Joseph P. Shapiro, No Pity: People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement, Chapter 2 “From Charity to Independent Living”
Samuel R. Bagenstos, The Future of Disability Law, 114 Yale L.J. 1 (2004)
Cleveland v. Policy Management Sys. Corp., 526 U.S. 795 (1999)
Brevard Achievement Center, 342 NLRB No. 101, 175 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 1329 (2004)
Bradley Lewis, “A Mad Fight: Psychiatry and Disability Activism,” in The Disability Studies Reader.
From Mia Mingus’ Blog, Leaving Evidence: “Interdependency,” http://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/interdependency-exerpts-from-several-talks/
Eli Clare, Exile and Pride, excerpt
Week 14
(November 20, 22) Class Cancelled Nov. 22 for Thanksgiving Break
The Revolution Will Not Be Funded (ed. INCITE!):
Chapter 1: The Political Logic of the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, by Dylan Rodríguez
Chapter 2: In The Shadow of the Shadow State, by Ruth Wilson Gilmore
Chapter 4: Democratizing American Philanthropy, by Christine E. Ahn
Week 15
(November 27, 29)
The Revolution Will Not Be Funded (ed. INCITE!):
Chapter 10: Social Service or Social Change?, by Paul Kivel (We read it in Week 1, refresh yourself on it.)
Chapter 15: Non-Profits and the Autonomous Grassroots, by Eric Tang
Dean Spade and Rickke Mananzala, “Trans Resistance and the Non-Profit Industrial Complex”
Sylvia Rivera Law Project, “From the Bottom Up: Strategies and Practices from Membership-Based Organizations”
Optional:
“The 7 Components of Transformative Organizing Theory,” Eric Mann