This course introduce students to the avenues and theories lawyers can utilize to conceptualize and seek social change. Through readings and discussion, we will explore past, present, and future movement lawyering strategies and concepts, including aspects of the civil rights movement, prison abolition, and Afrofuturism. We will examine the ways lawyers engage with communities, clients, and political causes, as well as the ethical issues that may arise when advocating on behalf of class members with divergent interests. Although the law can serve as an effective tool for change, it has its limitations. This course will help us recognize the need for movement lawyers to work in partnership with communities, organizers, and policymakers to achieve justice.
Depending on scheduling and availability, this course will incorporate guest speakers engaged in movement lawyering, community organizers, and public policy. Students will be expected to read, watch, and listen to the assigned materials and actively participate in discussion. Students will leave with a deeper knowledge of social justice lawyering, and an understanding of how to recognize the law’s limitations as a singular tool to achieve social, political, economic, and racial equality.
Henderson, Shavonne