UW Law School has a large group of scholars with expertise on the Global South as well as International and Comparative Law whose work GLS has always showcased. Events and activities around their work will be branded under the umbrella “Law and the Global South Initiative.”

Research Projects

Constitution-Making in the Global South

As Chileans embark on their third attempt to leave behind the 1980 constitution, it is timely to reflect on the process of making new constitutions. On March 24th and 25th, the University of Wisconsin will host a workshop on “Constitution-making in the Global South.” This workshop will gather scholars from around the world who are writing on the practice and theory of constitutionalism and political change in the Global South at the moment of creating a new constitution. Scholars from Latin America, Asia, and Africa will present their own works-in-progress on different aspects of constitution-making in theory and practice on:

We will also have a round-table discussion on Chilean constitution-making and a book launch of Joshua Braver’s We the Mediated People: Populist Constitutionalism in Contemporary South America.

Research Project on Global Resistance to Autocratic Diffusion (GRAD project)

From South Africa and Brazil to the United States and beyond, authoritarian forces are challenging democratic norms and are meeting resistance from domestic and transnational actors. This project will study authoritarian developments in selected countries and explore domestic and international resistance to them.

Workshop on Global Resistance to Autocratic Diffusion, September 22-23, 2023
          Public webinar: September 22, 2023, approved for 1.0 hours of CLE credit for WI Attorneys
          Details including registration information: t.e2ma.net/message/cp6eaj/cx42xj 

9:15-10:15am         Global Resistance to Authoritarian Diffusion: An Overview
                                     Chair: Sumudu Atapattu

“Rise of Authoritarianism”
                Fabio de Sa e Silva        
           “Forms of Resistance to Autocracy”
                Heinz Klug           
            “Autocracy and Resistance in the United States”
                 Richard Abel              
           "Lawyers in Resistance to Autocracy”
                 Leigha Crout

Workshop agenda


South Asia Legal Studies

Racial Capitalism and Climate Justice

According to the theory of racial capitalism, racism and capitalism are inextricably intertwined. Capitalism uses racism to stratify populations in order to facilitate profit-making. It continuously reconfigures existing hierarchies and creates new hierarchies in its endless quest for profit.  Fueled by the colonization of the Americas and the transatlantic slave trade, racial capitalism degrades both nature and persons racialized as non-white through the continuing quest for cheap labor, cheap raw materials, and cheap waste disposal. By no means a coincidence, climate change affects minority and marginalized communities disproportionately, the very communities that were once colonized and racialized. Thus, racial capitalism and climate justice are also inextricably intertwined. This research project will examine the relevance of the theory of racial capitalism to climate justice.

Events

Fall 2023

Spring 2023

Fall 2022

 

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