In her talk, titled “Immigration and the Civil Rights Agenda,” Rodríguez will explore the relationship between immigrant incorporation and the concept of “civil rights” often used to frame the immigration question in the United States. She will look at the distinction between what it means to be respected as a “person” (civil rights as a legal regime) and what it means to be incorporated into “the people” (civil rights as ongoing social struggle).
Cristina Rodríguez
Rodríguez, who was on the faculty of New 91ɫ School of Law from 2004 to 2012 prior to joining Yale, has long been interested in the effects of immigration on society and culture, as well as in the legal and political strategies different societies adopt to absorb immigrant populations. Her most recent work has included a series of articles and essays exploring how constitutional, statutory, and administrative law mechanisms can be mobilized to manage the social change implicated by the large-scale movements of people across borders.
The Pierre Genest Memorial Fund was established to honour the memory of Pierre Genest, who died in 1989. Genest graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1954 and became one of the finest counsels in Canada, respected not only for his gifts as a lawyer and an advocate, but also for his personal qualities.
The Pierre Genest Memorial Fund brings distinguished legal scholars to Osgoode to deliver the Pierre Genest Memorial Lecture and lead reading groups, courses and research consultations in Osgoode’s Genest Global Curriculum, a program aimed at enhancing the research culture and providing Osgoode students with a unique teaching format on comparative and transnational perspectives.
During the 2012-13 academic year, Osgoode will welcome a total of three Genest Global Faculty to the Law School. Last October, Ngaire Naffine, Bonython Professor of Law at the University of Adelaide, was at Osgoode. Following Rodríguez, Victor Tadros, Professor of Criminal Law and Legal Theory at the University of Warwick, will be at Osgoode in March.
The lecture will take place in Room 2001, Ignate Kaneff Building, Osgoode Hall Law School. All are welcome.