Afrofuturism and the Law: An International & Interdisciplinary Conference

The Faculty of Law community is invited to attend the University of Toronto's Centre for Ethics online conference, Afrofuturism and the Law on May 13, 2022.

Long before the film Black Panther captured the public's imagination, the cultural critic Mark Dery had coined the term "Afrofuturism" to describe "speculative fiction that treats African-American themes and addresses African-American concerns in the context of twentieth-century technoculture." Since then, the term has been applied to speculative creatives as diverse as the pop artist Janelle Monae, the science fiction writer Octavia Butler, and the visual artist Nick Cave. But only recently have thinkers turned to how Afrofuturism might guide, and shape, law. The participants in this workshop explore the many ways Afrofuturism can inform a range of legal issues, and even chart the way to a better future for us all.

The online conference features legal scholars from the U.S. who are contributors to a special issue, guest edited by Bennett Capers, Professor of Law and Director of Center on Race, Law & Justice at Fordham University School of Law, in the open-access online journal Critical Analysis of Law (CAL): An International & Interdisciplinary Law Review.

Since 2014, CAL has been co-edited by Professors Markus Dubber and Simon Stern in collaboration with U of T Law student editors.

Visit Eventbrite for program schedule and to register

Conference contributors:

• Bennett Capers (Law, Fordham)
• Ngozi Okidegbe (Law Cardozo)
• Alex Zamalin (Political Science & African American Studies, Detroit Mercy)
• Rasheedah Phillips (PolicyLink)
• Etienne C. Toussaint (Law, South Carolina)

Co-sponsors:

Fordham Center on Race, Law & Justice

and