ClassCrits Conference 2024
February 9-10, 2024
Southwestern Law School
3050 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010
Demanding Justice in the Face of Retrenchment: Finding Common Ground and Building Coalition Across Borders
There is no better teacher than adversity. Malcolm X
The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall. Che Guevara
He who stands lives; he who sits perishes. Maori proverb.
It is in collectivities that we find reservoirs of hope and optimism. Angela Davis
We share the same River of Life. What befalls me, befalls you. Oren Lyons, Onondaga Nation Chief.
Without community there is no liberation . . . Audre Lorde
Sometimes, we need to be reminded that we are all in this together. We are currently in the throes of a retrenchment, marked by an overt White nationalism in the United States and right-wing populism in other parts of the world that has stoked palpable if not overt hostility toward critical ideas that center the experience of marginalized people and/or create solidarity among people to fight injustice and inequality. Backed by global corporate elites, the resurgence of the right was goaded into the open by Donald Trump’s ascendancy in US politics (2016-2020) and other powerful right-wing populists around the world, including Viktor Orbán in Hungary (2010-present), Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey (2014-present), Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil (2019-2022), Narenda Modri in India (2014-present), Joko Widodo in Indonesia (2014-present), Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel (2009-2021, 2022-present), and Aleksandar Vucic in Serbia (2017-present). Given the gross disparity in wealth that currently exists in and between countries, the ongoing assault on individual rights in the US and around the world, and the global inability (or simply the lack of willingness) to address climate change and other environmental justice issues--to name just a few of the issues confronting us—the worst may be yet to come.
In light of the challenges we are facing, now is the time to come together. We invite you to help find the common ground between us and work with us to build coalitions.
ClassCrits themes include:
- Income & Wealth Inequality
Income & Wealth Inequality
World
.003% of world population owns 6.5% of global wealth.
Richest 1% own 47.8% of global wealth.
Individuals owning > $100,000 in assets = 13% of global population and own 85.6% of global wealth.
Adults with < $10,000 = 53.2% of world’s population but only hold 1.1% of global wealth.U.S.
In 2019, the median white household had a net worth of $187,300, compared with $14,100 for Black householders and $31,700 for Hispanic householders. Asian households had a median household wealth of $86,000.
Causes: shifting tax policy, reduced bargaining power among workers, racial and gender discrimination. - Workers’ Rights
Workers’ Rights
World
Arbitrary arrests & Detentions in 69 countries.
Trade Unionists killed in 13 countries.
Grade 4: Systemic violations of workers’ rights in Venezuela, Australia, Vietnam, Chile, Saudi Arabia, & much of Africa.U.S.
26 States and Guam have right to work laws, which stifle union participation.
The United States’ systemic violations of workers’ rights earns a grade of 4 on Trade Union Confederation’s five-point scale, with a score of 5 representing the worse. - Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice
World
WHO estimates that climate change will cause an additional 250,000 deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. Small island states, such as the Maldives, Fiji & the Marshall Islands, have begun to disappear and may completely disappear within 80 years. Low-income countries and communities are more likely to be exposed to climate change threats.
U.S.
People of color make up 56% of the population living in neighborhoods with Toxic Release Inventory facilities, compared to 30% elsewhere. - Abortion Rights
Abortion Rights
World
Abortion prohibited for 6% of world’s women (91 M),
prohibited except to save life of mother, affects 22% of world’s women (358 M), and prohibited except to preserve health, affects 12% of world’s women (186 M).U.S.
Post Dobbs: Abortion rights at risk of being severely limited or prohibited in 26 states and 3 territories. - Book Bans
Book Bans
World
Asian countries responsible for almost 44% of book bans worldwide.
Europe: 33.07%
Africa & Australia: 6.61% eachU.S.
More than half of US states have banned books as anti-race education and anti-LGBTQ+ laws have spread across the country. - LGBTQIA+ Rights
LGBTQIA+ Rights
Countries Criminalizing LGBTQIA+
Asia (e.g, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia)
Africa (e.g., Nigeria, Libya, Uganda)
Caribbean & the Americas (e.g., Jamaica, Guyana)
Pacific (e.g., Samoa, Tonga)U.S.: Anti-LGBTQIA+ Bills
All 50 states
Texas—53
Missouri--48
Oklahoma—35
