Taxation and Racial Capitalism (S)

Taxation and Racial Capitalism will explore the ways that anti-Black racism has shaped legal rules and institutions both domestically and globally. It will illustrate the dynamics of racial capitalism by tracing the evolution of international tax rules once shaped and now sustained by racial fears, perpetuating a false fiscal scarcity that has impoverished vulnerable states and eviscerated social safety nets in wealthier ones. Cycles of liberation and backlash from Reconstruction to decolonization have granted political power and economic autonomy to formerly enslaved individuals and erstwhile possessions only to watch it be stripped away, whether through Jim Crow laws or treaties designed to constrain fiscal sovereignty. This course will tell that familiar story from an unconventional perspective. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement. **A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.