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From Economic Inequality to Economic Freedom: Constitutional Political Economy in the New Gilded Age
Rahman, K. Sabeel
Rahman, K. Sabeel
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Rahman_Sabeel.pdf
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Abstract
We live in a new Gilded Age. In the years since the 2008 financial crisis, it has become increasingly clear that income inequality is widening dramatically, and that social mobility and genuine economic opportunity are an illusion for most Americans. Such economic inequality magnifies and interacts with chronic crises of structural racial injustice and persisting political dysfunction. The urgency of this moment is reflected not only in the virulent exclusionary populisms resurgent on the right, but also in the wide array of social movements and reform communities mobilizing on the left: from alternative labor organizing among low-wage and "gig" economy workers; to new civil rights movements working at the intersections of racial, economic, and political exclusion; to efforts at reforming our democratic institutions themselves. This project of challenging inequalities of income, opportunity, standing, and voice presents a central challenge for contemporary legal doctrine, practice, and scholarship. What is the role of law in constructing inequalities and exclusions? How can law and institutional structures be reconceived to create a more inclusive and egalitarian society?