Social Movements & the Law

PHOENIX — Attorney General Kris Mayes announced today that she is joining a multistate federal lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s unconstitutional order attempting to unilaterally strip citizenship from citizens across the United States, including thousands of babies born in Arizona each year.

The orders require drafting strategies to enforce the gender binary (within 30 days) and meetings on fighting DEI and environmental justice (monthly).

A library book she found when she was 10 inspired Melanie McKay-Cody to pursue a career studying Native American sign languages. Now a researcher in the College of Education, she's one of the foremost experts at the intersection of Native and Deaf identity. She shares her story in this article and video.

On December 17, 2024, the Archivist of the United States, Dr. Colleen Shogan, and Deputy Archivist, William J. Bosanko, issued a public statement refusing to publish the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), following pleas in favor of publication of the ERA from Congress members and women’s rights activists, and over 100 years of collective advocacy.  The […]

President Joe Biden announced a major opinion Friday that the Equal Rights Amendment is ratified, enshrining its protections into the Constitution, a last-minute move that some believe could pave the way to bolstering reproductive rights.

As Donald Trump returns to the White House, a newly emboldened anti-DEI bloc has gained powerful allies.

While top brass in conservative circles aim to curtail DEI, college students are optimistic about diversity, according to a new survey.

Gov. Katie Hobbs said Wednesday she wants $7 million to speed up the repatriation of Native American human remains and artifacts.

Libraries are now reporting more aggressive, targeted, and organized First Amendment audits than in years past.

This Q&A offers strategies and resources for preparing your library to approach community concerns as well as reaction to potentially controversial programs, events, and speakers.

They are "the original sharing economy," "early warning systems for broad cultural phenomena," offering tai chi lessons, advice, social services, and, yes, books, a whole lot of books.

As our organization grows larger and more diverse, we work to expand the language we use to tell our story.

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice ...

We speak a different language in my grandmother’s house.

Nationwide, nearly 17,000 homes on tribal lands still need electricity hook-ups. A majority are spread across the Navajo Nation, where climate change is making it harder for families to keep cool. A mutual aid program, however, has helped to change lives.

Meehan and colleagues study access to running water in large US cities since 1970, finding that the 2008 financial crisis worsened household ‘plumbing poverty’ in many cities. This disproportionately impacted households of color and generally squeezed lower-income households into more precarious living situations.

More than 20,000 residents do not have access to running water in five of the top 15 biggest cities, a study revealed.

The University of Arizona partners with the city of Tucson to shed light on challenges in Tucson when it comes to poverty. Several U of A undergraduate students displayed their findings on poverty.

According to the National Foster Youth Institute less than 5% of foster care youth obtain a bachelor's degree.

"Land Acknowledgements often begin academic conferences, cultural events, government press conferences, and even hockey games. They are supposed to be an act of Reconciliation between Indigenous people in Canada and non-Indigenous Canadians, but they have become so routine and formulaic that they have sometimes lost meaning. Seen more and more as empty words, some events have dropped Land Acknowledgements altogether. Me��tis artist and educator Suzanne Keeptwo wants to change that. She sees the Land Acknowledgement as an opportunity for Indigenous people in Canada to communicate their worldview to non-Indigenous Canadians--a worldview founded upon Age Old Wisdom about how to sustain the Land we all want to call home. For Keeptwo, the Land Acknowledgement is a way to teach and a way to learn: a living, evolving record of First Nation, Me��tis, and Inuit people in Canada and the Land that for millennia they held in pristine condition. As Keeptwo says: "Everything comes back to the Land--as our common denominator and most perfect unifier for Reconciliation." This is an indispensable guide to getting the contemporary Land Acknowledgement right."--

"Relationality is a core principle of Indigenous studies, yet there is relatively little work that assesses what building relations looks like in practice, especially in the messy context of Native nations' governance. Focusing on the unique history and context of Osage nation building efforts, this insightful ethnography provides a deeper vision of the struggles Native nation leaders are currently facing. Exploring the Osage philosophy of moving to a new country as a framework for relational governance, Jean Dennison shows that for the Osage, nation building is an ongoing process of reworking colonial constraints to serve the nation's own ends. As Dennison argues, Osage officials have undertaken deliberate changes to strengthen Osage relations to their language, self-governance, health, and land-core needs for a people to thrive now and into the future. Scholars and future Indigenous leaders can learn from the Osage Nation's past challenges, strategies, and ongoing commitments to better enact the difficult work of Indigenous nation building"--

"In 'They came but could not conquer,' Diane J. Purvis reveals the centuries-long histories of environmental destruction and settler violence against Alaska Natives and their villages by successive European empires and states: Russian, British, French, and American"--;"As the environmental justice movement slowly builds momentum, Diane J. Purvis highlights the work of Indigenous peoples in Alaska's small rural villages, who have faced incredible odds throughout history yet have built political clout fueled by vigorous common cause in defense of their homes and livelihood. Starting with the transition from Russian to American occupation of Alaska, Alaska Natives have battled with oil and gas corporations; fought against U.S. plans to explode thermonuclear bombs on the edge of Native villages; litigated against political plans to flood Native homes; sought recompense for the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster; and struggled against the federal government's fishing restrictions that altered Native paths for subsistence. In 'They came but could not conquer' Purvis presents twelve environmental crises that occurred when isolated villages were threatened by a governmental monolith or big business. In each, Native peoples rallied together to protect their land, waters, resources, and a way of life against the bulldozer of unwanted, often dangerous alterations labeled as progress. In this gripping narrative Purvis shares the inspiring stories of those who possessed little influence over big business and regulations yet were able to protect their traditional lands and waterways anyway."--

America is facing an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, with troubling effects on our mental and physical health. We live in one of the most divisive times in our history, one in which we tend to work, play, and associate only with people who think as we do. How do we create spaces for people to come together--to open our minds, understand our differences, and exchange ideas? Shamichael Hallman argues that the public library may be our best hope for bridging these divides and creating strong, inclusive communities. While public libraries have long been thought of as a place for a select few, increasingly they are playing an essential role in building social cohesion, promoting civic renewal, and advancing the ideals of a healthy democracy. Many are reimagining themselves in new and innovative ways, actively reaching out to the communities they serve. Today, libraries are becoming essential institutions for repairing society. Libraries have a unique opportunity to bridge socioeconomic divides and rebuild trust. But in order to do so, they must be truly welcoming to all. They and their communities must work collaboratively to bridge socioeconomic divides through innovative and productive partnerships. Drawing from his experience at the Memphis Public Library and his extensive research and interviews across the country, Hallman presents a rich argument for seeing libraries as one of the nation's greatest assets. He includes examples from libraries large and small--such as the Iowa's North Liberty Library's Lighthouse in the Library program to bring people together to discuss important topics in a safe and supportive space, to Cambridge Cooks, an initiative of the Cambridge MA Public Library that fosters social connection by bringing people together over shared interest in food. As an institution that is increasingly under attack for creating a place where diverse audiences can see themselves, public libraries are under more scrutiny than ever. Meet Me at the Library offers us a revealing look at one of our most important civic institutions and the social and civic impact they must play if we are to heal our divided nation. --

"Indigenous Peoples and Borders considers the problem of state borders, which are frequently legacies of colonialism, and their impact on Indigenous Peoples around the world. Indigenous lands are frequently divided by such borders creating difficulties for their Native inhabitants that were until recently largely disregarded by international law and international relations scholars. The contributors, including many Indigenous rights practitioners, take up issues of sovereignty, power, globalization, economic integration, and self-determination in areas from Bangladesh to the Russian Arctic to Mexico. The collection takes a comparative, multidisciplinary, and global approach showing the ways Indigenous Peoples are challenging and working around borders, even as they are constrained by them"--

"A stirring, comprehensive look at the state of women in the workforce--why women's progress has stalled, how our economy fosters unproductive competition, and how we can fix the system that holds women back. In an era of supposed great equality, women are still falling behind in the workplace. Even with more women in the workforce than in decades past, wage gaps continue to increase. It is the most educated women who have fallen the furthest behind. Blue-collar women hold the most insecure and badly paid jobs in our economy. And even as we celebrate high-profile representation--women on the board of Fortune 500 companies and our first female vice president--women have limited recourse when they experience harassment and discrimination. Fair Shake: Women and the Fight to Build a Just Economy explains that the system that governs our economy-a winner-take-all economy-is the root cause of these myriad problems. The WTA economy self-selects for aggressive, cutthroat business tactics, which creates a feedback loop that sidelines women. The authors, three legal scholars, call this feedback loop "the triple bind": if women don't compete on the same terms as men, they lose; if women do compete on the same terms as men, they're punished more harshly for their sharp elbows or actual misdeeds; and when women see that they can't win on the same terms as men, they take themselves out of the game (if they haven't been pushed out already). With odds like these stacked against them, it's no wonder women feel like, no matter how hard they work, they can't get ahead. Fair Shake is not a "fix the woman" book; it's a "fix the system" book. It not only diagnoses the problem of what's wrong with the modern economy, but shows how, with awareness and collective action, we can build a truly just economy for all"--

The last decade has seen significant changes in global attitudes, policies and practices that impact the lives of trans people, but the world of sport has been slow to follow these initiatives. Contributors to this book document the formidable social-cultural and legal challenges facing trans athletes, particularly girls and women, at the global, national, and local levels, in contexts ranging from school sport to international competition. They demonstrate how proponents of trans exclusion rely on flawed or inconclusive science, selectively employed to support their purported goal of 'protecting women's sport'. Politicians in the US, UK, and elsewhere who have shown little interest in women or in sport exploit the issue to advance broader conservative agendas, while hostile mainstream and social media coverage exacerbates the problem. Bringing insights from sociology, philosophy, science and law, contributors present cogent analyses of these developments and explore the way forward, providing thoughtful and original recommendations for changes to policies and practices that are inclusive, innovative and democratic. --

"Authored by a seasoned diversity educator, Trans Children in Today's Schools provides a pragmatic and thorough approach to creating inclusive, safe, and flexible environments for gender-diverse young people. The primary audience for this text is parents and K-12 educators, as well as the extended support network in a child's life. This book goes well beyond the what and why of gender diversity and answers the questions of how - how do we create inclusive environments for all children, how do we continue to educate ourselves, and how do we successfully navigate controversy and confusion so that we may best support children in today's schools? This text addresses pertinent issues of privacy and visibility and outlines best practices for teaching gender diversity in the classroom. This title contains standalone content that will guide parents and educators on their journey, including steps for creating a student support plan"--

"From humble but proud origins picking fruit with her family to her success in helping thousands of Americans rise out of poverty and the chains of welfare...An American story rich with humor, irony and surprises -- the story of Lupe Anguiano reveals her loves, sacrifices, victories, failures and deepest thoughts. This is the untold personal life story of courage and heroism and a back-stage look at the people and events that define the 20th century. Through her untiring dedication to her beliefs, Lupe was able to realize her most successful achievement... Welfare Reform. She believed that welfare was a trap and disrespectful of women. Lupe gained national media recognition including a feature on "60 Minutes" and received the support of several presidents for her groundbreaking work in welfare reform that spread throughout the United States. Her solution to welfare reform is still relevant today"--Book announcement website

"From suffragettes to sexuality, feminist history is often told as a narrative of women united in the fight against patriarchy. But there have always been limits and fault lines in the feminist movements that centered white women's rights at the expense of all others. As scholar Kyla Schuller argues in The Trouble with White Women, white women, across political classes, have used racism and other hierarchies of power to win their own rights and expand their personal opportunities. Their white feminist politics have come at a great cost, resulting in the sustained exploitation, oppression, and silencing of women of color. The Trouble with White Women details the history of white feminist icons and their counterparts from the 1840s to the present. From Margaret Sanger, who promoted racist eugenics and was in conflict with Dr. Dorothy Ferebee, to Pauli Murray, who fought for a more radical vision of feminism against Betty Friedan's homophobic and racist ideas. Today, that tradition endures. So-called feminists continue to advocate excluding trans people from the movement and promote the Violence Against Women Act that has buttressed the greatest carceral state in the world. But as The Trouble with White Women argues, resistance to these white feminist politics has continually emerged from Black, indigenous, poor, queer, and trans women and their movements for liberation. It is only by understanding this complex legacy that feminism can build a movement that honors the radical work and lives of those who suffer most under patriarchy"--