“My work is heavily influenced by critiques that many critical intellectual traditions, especially Critical Race Theory, have made of reform projects focused on legal equality.” MadeRaceTheoryProjectsIntellectualTraditionCriticalFocusedReformCritique Author:Dean Spade
“Law reforms in the US, ostensibly enacted to prohibit racism, have proven ineffective because they focus on bad intentions of individuals and fail to comprehend population-level conditions.” LawIndividualLevelsFocusFailingConditionsRacismIntentionPopulationReformProvenBad Intentions Author:Dean Spade
“Critical Race Theory offers a critique of how law and certain law reform strategies misunderstand the actual operation of life-shortening state violence, and how that has produced a set of reforms that fail to actually transform material conditions of white supremacy. These critiques redirect our attention to the conditions we aim to transform.” StatesLawCertainWhiteRaceAttentionViolenceFailingConditionsMaterialsTheoryOffersAimStrategyCriticalReformOperationsWhite SupremacyCritiqueSupremacy Author:Dean Spade
“When social movements engage in legal reform, they often mobilize images of people from their constituent population who most match national norms about what "deserving citizens" are like, and use those people as spokespeople and as lead plaintiffs in legal cases. This strategy requires that people who are experiencing intersectional harm - who are vulnerable through multiple vectors of demonization and marginalization - be further marginalized and disappeared by the advocacy.” PeopleUseSocialCasesMovementCitizensStrategyPopulationHarmVulnerableReformMultipleNormDeservingConstituentsAdvocacyMarginalizedSocial MovementsMarginalizationVectorsSpokespeople Author:Dean Spade
“Legal reform organizations are usually trying to portray their constituents as "hard workers," as "not criminals," as citizens, as part of normative family arrangements, and as conforming to white norms as much as possible. When these strategies are used, the most dangerous conditions and the people who are most vulnerable cannot be discussed or addressed.” PeopleTryingHardUsedWhiteConditionsDangerousHard WorkCitizensOrganizationStrategyWorkersCriminalsVulnerableReformArrangementsConformNormConstituentsHard Worker Author:Dean Spade
“In addition to encouraging us to participate in narratives of "deservingness" that cast large parts of our constituencies as "undeserving," legal reform strategies encourage us to valorize harmful systems that our movements should be seeking to dismantle.” ShouldMovementStrategyCastsSeekingReformNarrativeUndeserving Author:Dean Spade
“Legal reform has significant dangers: changing only the window-dressing of harmful systems but leaving the violence of the systems in tact, failing to provide actual relief for those facing the worst conditions, and legitimizing or expanding systems of harm.” ViolenceFailingWorstConditionsDangerWindowLeavingHarmSignificantReformReliefDressingsExpandingTactWindow Dressing Author:Dean Spade
“I am not arguing that we should never use legal reform as a tactic. Instead, I argue that it should not be a goal.” ShouldUseGoalArguingReformTactics Author:Dean Spade
“We should interact with legal reform tactically, knowing that it will not meet our ultimate goals but asking whether there are ways that engaging with particular reforms might benefit our work and help reduce certain harms or dangers.” WayShouldHelpingMightCertainGoalKnowingDangerParticularBenefitsUltimateAskingHarmReformEngagingUltimate Goal Author:Dean Spade
“When we approach legal reform work, we can ask questions like: Will this provide actual relief to people facing violence or harm or will it primarily be a symbolic change? Will this divide our constituency by offering relief only to people with certain privileged statuses (such as people with lawful immigration status, people with jobs, married people, etc.)?” PeopleJobsCertainAsksViolenceApproachMarriedHarmImmigrationReformReliefEtcDividesOfferingPrivilegedSymbolic Author:Dean Spade
“We must experiment, fail, and try again, but beginning with a critique of legal reform and a commitment to center the most vulnerable moves us away from some of the most common, obvious pitfalls of neoliberal social movement strategies.” TryingMovingSocialCommonFailingMovementCommitmentStrategyObviousExperimentsVulnerableReformCritiqueTry AgainPitfallsSocial Movements Author:Dean Spade
