Image: Strikers in New York City in 1909, part of the “Uprising of 20,000” protesting working conditions in shirtwaist factories. Despite some success, 146 workers, mostly women, would die two years later in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
I am a Furman Fellow at NYU School of Law where I write at the intersection of labor law, the law of democracy, political philosophy, and private law theory. My current project explores the increasingly accepted idea that a strong labor movement is essential to revitalizing democracy. So much is (mostly) uncontroversial. But controversy and confusion quickly arise when we ask: What kind of democracy? and What kind of labor movement? I argue that competitive partisan democracy can serve egalitarian ends, but only when strong, independent labor unions with a readiness to strike can form coalitions with and hold party leaders accountable.
I recently completed a PhD under the supervision of Philip Pettit in the Princeton University Department of Philosophy. My dissertation asks what it means to be under the power of another person or entity. I call the freedom from being under another’s power independence, and in my dissertation I try to explain what independence means, why it is valuable, and how it can be attained across different domains of life. How do independent people hold one another accountable for their moral obligations? Is independence compatible with wage-labor or does it require that we organize collective production differently? Can we be independent under a state? If so, what role does the law—and private law in particular—play in upholding independence? I explore these questions directly, but I am also deeply interested in Kant’s practical philosophy and his influence on thinking about these topics. Some of my writing explores these themes in Kant and those influenced by him, including Fichte, Hegel, and Marx. I also have a few papers in progress on the connection between authority and social equality, and between republican freedom and private rights.
I have a JD from NYU School of Law, where I studied as a Furman Academic Scholar. I have worked on litigation in civil rights, labor and employment, procedural, and voting rights law before state and federal courts across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court. I have also written on those topics in various law journals.