AAR 2019 - Housing, Health, and Equity: Government as a Site for Intersectional Justice

In the face of increasing policy paralysis in Washington, regional and local governments have emerged as critical engines for progress on thorny issues from climate change and economic inequality to housing, homelessness, and racial equity. And despite the overall decline of religious affiliation in the United States, local policymakers increasingly are working closely with faith-based community partners and negotiating with multireligious and multiracial organizing coalitions. This panel, featuring distinguished political leaders who have placed justice at the core of their leadership, explores the relevance and influence of their training and expertise in religion, ethics, and religious history on policymaking and governing.
J. Shawn Landres, University of California, Los Angeles, and Sara Kamali, University of Oxford, Presiding

Panelists:
- Mark Ridley-Thomas, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
- Lois Capps, U.S. Congress (retired)
- Sadaf Jaffer, Princeton University

This session was recorded at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Diego, California, on November 23.