Law Distributes: Housing and Credit in Poor Black Neighborhoods
Friday, September 16, 2022
Like other well-intentioned progressives, legal advocates for residents of poor Black neighborhoods face a persistent accusation: that their efforts hurt the very people they mean to help. Disputing this charge, Professor Kennedy proposes a method for evaluating a wide range of legal reform projects.
Immediately following the lecture, Professor Kennedy discussed his proposal with UB Law’s experts in housing policy (Professor Heather Abraham), political economy (Professor Matthew Dimick), and issues of race, gender, and class (Professor Athena Mutua).
Duncan Kennedy, Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence (Emeritus), Harvard Law School
Duncan Kennedy is the Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence, Emeritus, at Harvard Law School. One of the founders of the Critical Legal Studies movement, his scholarly work is widely recognized for its influence on the history of legal thought, legal semiotics, law and economics, contract law, and legal education.
Kennedy joined the Harvard Law School faculty in 1971 after completing a clerkship with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart. At Harvard, he has taught contracts, torts, property, trusts, the history of legal thought, low-income housing law and policy, Israel/Palestine legal issues, the globalization of law and legal thought, and the politics of private law.