Escaping the Constitutional Bind, Pt. 2

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This is part two of our two-part interview with Aziz Rana. To share your thoughts on the episode, click on the “Send us a Text Message” link at the top of the episode description.

Aziz Rana is a professor of law at Boston College. He’s the author of two books, The Two Faces of American Freedom, published in 2014, and The Constitutional Bind, published in April of this year. In 2022, Aziz spoke at the Socialism Conference in Chicago about the need for a democratic constitution. That recording is available in the class episode archive. Aziz recently published an op-ed in the New York Times titled “The Constitution won’t save us from Trump,” which drew a response from Nacy Pelosi.
In part two, Aziz talks about the Consitution as creating a political playing field within which American politics operates. Aziz also talks about the contradiction between a growing realization that the Constitution is harmful and the power of "constitutional realism." Finally, Aziz talks about our current moment and how it compares to previous periods of constitutional critique.

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