Emerging from the legal academy of the United States following a 1995 colloquium in Puerto Rico on Latina/o Communities and Critical Race Theory, “LatCrit theory” is a relatively recent genre of critical “outsider jurisprudence” – a category of contemporary scholarship including critical legal studies, feminist legal theory, critical race theory, critical race feminism, Asian American legal scholarship and queer theory. That cumulative record has served as LatCrits’ point of departure, and our basic twin goals since 1995 have been: (1) to develop a critical, activist and inter-disciplinary discourse on law and policy towards Latinas/os, and (2) to foster both the development of coalitional theory and practice as well as the accessibility of this knowledge to agents of social and legal transformation. LatCrit theorists aim to center Latinas/os” multiple internal diversities and to situate Latinas/os in larger inter-group frameworks, both domestically and globally, to promote social justice awareness and activism.
Committed to the anti-subordination principle from the beginning, LatCrit scholars and activists have sought to give concrete and substantive meaning to this commitment. One symbolic expression of our dedication to the anti-subordination principle is the official LatCrit logo: a simple, stylized depiction of a globe downside up (see above). As this logo indicates, LatCrit theorists look to “the bottom” of local and global categories to ground both theory and praxis. Building on this “bottoms up” approach of critical outsider jurisprudence, LatCrit seeks to sharpen the social relevance of critical theorizing, to promote theory as a catalyst for social transformation. Formally trademarked in 2005, this group symbol not only reflects our specific commitment to anti-subordination studies and actions, but also makes a broader statement about our critical and comparative perspective approaches.
The LatCrit community operates as a not-for-profit corporation with 501(c) (3) status, which raises funds for educational purposes from various sources. A diverse Board of Directors and three co-chairs manage LatCrit, Inc., while the various events and activities described in the Portfolio of Projects are operated by self-selected Project Teams composed of interested scholars, activists and students. Participation in LatCrit projects is generally open to all students, scholars, activists, policymakers and other interested persons, and is warmly invited on the basis of ethical solidarity.
Welcome to our intellectual and social community !!!
