397 - Teaching Workshop. Re-imagining the Constitution

Session Submission Type: Workshop

Description

The U.S. Constitution is almost unique, in that it only includes civil and political rights. Many other constitutions include human rights in the broader sense. As positive rights, they encompass social, economic, and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights, and some include environmental rights. Out of 194 State constitutions, for example, 72 include the right to a home or housing, 135 guarantee free provision of health care, and 169 ensure protections for children. During this year a group of sociologists, along with a few constitutional lawyers, have examined how the U.S. Constitution (specifically, the Bill of Rights) could be revised to include positive rights and protections. In this workshop, ten sociologists will each very briefly describe how they approached this project. Most of the session will be devoted to Q and A with the audience.

Sub Unit

• Teaching Workshop

Session Organizer

• Judith Blau

Leader

• Judith Blau

Panelists

• Louis Esparza, California State University, Los Angeles

• Steven Larrimore Foy, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

• Mark Frezzo, University of Mississippi

• Davita Silfen Glasberg, University of Connecticut

• Keri E. Iyall Smith, Suffolk University

• Steven Panageotou, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

• Susan C. Pearce, East Carolina University