Identity Entrepreneurs

In my previous article Racial Capitalism, I examined the ways in which white individuals and predominantly white institutions derive value from non-white racial identity. This process flows from our intense social and legal preoccupation with diversity. And it results in the commodification of non-white racial identity, with negative implications for both individuals and society. This Article picks up where Racial Capitalism left off in three ways. As a foundation, it first expands the concept of racial capitalism to identity categories more generally, explaining that individual in-group members and predominantly in-group institutions — usually individuals or institutions that are white, male, straight, wealthy, and so on — can and do derive value from out-group identities. Second, the Article turns from the overarching system of identity capitalism to the myriad ways that individual out-group members actively participate in that system. In particular, I examine how out-group members leverage their out-group status to derive social and economic value for themselves. I call such out-group participants identity entrepreneurs. Identity entrepreneurship is neither inherently good nor inherently bad. Rather, it is a complicated phenomenon with both positive and negative consequences. Finally, the Article considers the appropriate response to identity entrepreneurship. We should design laws and policies to maximize both individual agency and access to information for out-group members. Such reforms would protect individual choice while making clear the consequences of identity entrepreneurship both for individual identity entrepreneurs and for the out-group as a whole. A range of legal doctrines interact with and influence identity entrepreneurship, including employment discrimination under Title VII, rights of privacy and publicity, and intellectual property. Modifying these doctrines to take account of identity entrepreneurship will further progress toward an egalitarian society in which in-group and out-group identities are valued equally.

Brief of Amici Curiae Scholars of the Constitutional Rights of Children in Support of Petitioners in Obergefell v. Hodges

Supreme Court precedent establishes that the government may not punish children for matters beyond their control. Same-sex marriage bans and non-recognition laws (“marriage bans”) do precisely this. The states argue that marriage is good for children, yet marriage bans categorically exclude an entire class of children – children of same-sex couples – from the legal, economic and social benefits of marriage. This amicus brief recounts a powerful body of equal protection jurisprudence that prohibits punishing children to reflect moral disapproval of parental conduct or to incentivize adult behavior. We then explain that marriage bans punish children of same-sex couples because they: 1) foreclose their central legal route to family formation; 2) categorically void their existing legal parent-child relationships incident to out-of-state marriages; 3) deny them economic rights and benefits; and 4) inflict psychological and stigmatic harm. States cannot justify marriage bans as good for children and then exclude children of same-sex couples based on moral disapproval of their same-sex parents’ relationships or to incentivize opposite-sex couples to “procreate” within the bounds of marriage. To do so, severs the connection between legal burdens and individual responsibility and creates a permanent class or caste distinction.

The Role of Education and Government in Shaping Muslim Women's Rights: Three Contemporary Case Studies

The rise in Muslim terrorist activities has encouraged the West to reevaluate its understanding of Islam, prompting concern for Muslim women's rights. In search of education-based solutions, this project explores three case studies of Muslims living under different government types: a secular state with a primarily Muslim population (Turkey); a secular state with a significant Muslim minority population (France); and a Muslim state with a powerful religious influence (Afghanistan). The type of government plays a significant role in Muslim women's rights, and solutions must be based on individual aspects of each unique place where Muslims live today. The results show that education is a universal solution when accepted at all levels: governmental, communal, and the individual.

Development of a Strengths-Based Model for Insurance Automobile, Property, and Casualty Claims Operations

ABSTRACT \ Employers know that to have a successful organization, they must have the right people in the right jobs. But how will they know whom to place where? The development of a model based upon an individual's personality traits and strengths, and how to best use them, is a good place to start. Employees working in positions in which their traits and strengths are maximized enjoy work more, are more efficient, and are less apt to be absent or to look for work elsewhere. It is a mutually beneficial process of selection for both employers and employees. This model illustrates the process in an automobile and property insurance claims operation through utilization of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicators and the StrengthsFinder Profiles.