At the Blog
On Monday, Aziz Rana kicked off a symposium on his new book, The Constitutional Bind. Given the manifest flaws of the U.S. Constitution, how did Americans come to idolize this document? And how might long-buried Left thinking about state and economy help free us from this culture of Constitution worship?
On Tuesday, Willy Forbath continued the conversation, arguing that key left figures and movements have always made canny use of redemptive constitutional narratives and arguments. Rejecting that tradition leaves far too much on the table.
And on Thursday, Uʻilani Tanigawa Lum and Kaulu Luʻuwai explained why the devastating Maui wildfires of August 2023 should not be understood as an inevitable natural disaster, but rather as a predictable byproduct of nineteenth century plantation capitalism.
In LPE Land
Cool job alert: The Health and Political Economy Project, hosted at the New School, is looking for an Associate Director.
Cool CFP alert: Cornell ILR School invites submissions for the Work Law Junior Scholar Workshop on Nov 8-9, 2024. Discussants will include Matt Bodie, Veena Dubal, Hiba Hafiz, Kerry Rittich, and Noah Zatz.
At the Sling, Kate Conlow interviews Austin Frerick about his book Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry.
In a new paper, Ezra Rosser argues that the accepted understanding of Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff, a key case of the American takings law canon, is wrong because it overlooks Native Hawaiian claims to the land taken.
In N+1, Gabriel Winant interviews Jorge Coronado and Bethany Letiecq about the United Faculty for the Common Good AAUP slate.
In Harper’s, Daniel Bessner examines the political economy of Hollywood.
In a new paper, Alvin Velazquez explains how, in a historic victory, retirees in Puerto Rico organized to overcome a colonialist legal regime and came out of Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy proceedings relatively unscathed.
In a new paper, Caitlin Tully argues that, contra recent skepticism about unenumerated powers and rights, there has long-existed one such power: the power to charter corporations.
In the Atlantic, Christopher Beam discusses the rise of personalized pricing.
