Don’t Capitulate: Law, Policy and Resistance under Authoritarianism

August 7, 2025
3:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. CDT / 4:45 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. EDT
Ticketed Event
Virtual Livestream and In Person
BUY TICKETS (note: livestream option is $75 for the entire convention and includes panels on Palestine)

The Center for Constitutional Rights will present this urgent panel during the 2025 Netroots Nation convention in New Orleans. Panelists will discuss the need for resistance in the face of authoritarian power.

A key historical learning is that authoritarianism succeeds not because of the strength of the right, but because of the capitulation of the middle. The right wing has fully consolidated power across branches of government and is quickly advancing the ambitions of oligarchs. Meanwhile, the progressive establishment is compromising with a racist political agenda, and institutions are complying with fascist experiments. What does this moment require? What can we learn from other struggles under authoritarianism? How can lawyers, activists, and scholars not only push back against the most violent political forces, but also articulate an affirmative horizon of social and economic justice and ecological harmony.

Purchase in-person or virtual tickets to Netroots Nation 2025.

Panelists:

Vince Warren, Executive Director, Center for Constitutional Rights
Linda Burnham, Activist, Writer and Strategist
Nikki Thanos, Director of Training and Praxis, Movement Law Lab
Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03)

Moderator: Nadia Ben-Youssef, Advocacy Director, Center for Constitutional Rights

More information: Thursday’s full schedule of panels: NN25 Agenda – Netroots Nation

Friday’s full schedule of panels: NN25 Agenda – Netroots Nation

Saturday’s full schedule of panels: NN25 Agenda – Netroots Nation