Democracy and Education: Authoritarianism, Resistance, and Racial Justice

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This panel explores how critical race theory illuminates the legal and political forces shaping education amid growing threats to democracy. Panelists examine how structural racism, intersectionality, and critiques of liberalism help explain recent backlash against racial justice efforts in K–12 and higher education, including attacks on curriculum, academic freedom, and diversity initiatives. Drawing from legal theory, policy studies, and practitioner-informed perspectives, the panel considers how law structures educational opportunity and governance, often reinforcing racial inequality and authoritarian logics. By framing education as both a legal institution and a site of ideological struggle, the session highlights the need to analyze how democratic erosion is unfolding through educational policy—and how legal scholarship can support more just and inclusive educational futures.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Law and Education

Chair

• Areto A. Imoukhuede, Florida A&M University

Papers

• Education, Race, and the Return of Liberal Equality - Areto A. Imoukhuede, Florida A&M University

• The “Vicious Voter” and Racial Authoritarianism in American Law - Atiba Ellis, Case Western Reserve University

• Criminalizing Culture: A Critical Race Theory Analysis of Prosecuting Creativity, Community, and Nonconformity - Darrell D. Jackson, University of Wyoming

• Reconstructing the Right to Protest - Christian Sundquist, University of Pittsburgh

Session Organizer

• Areto A. Imoukhuede, Florida A&M University

Discussants

• Atiba Ellis, Case Western Reserve University

• Darrell D. Jackson, University of Wyoming

• Christian Sundquist, University of Pittsburgh

• Areto A. Imoukhuede, Florida A&M University