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Dean Spade

30quotes

Dean Spade: A Pioneer in Queer Politics and Social Justice


Full Name and Common Aliases


Dean Spade is an American lawyer, activist, and author known for his work on issues related to poverty, welfare policy, and queer rights. He uses he/him pronouns.

Birth and Death Dates


Born in 1972, Dean Spade's exact birthdate is not publicly available. As of this writing, there is no record of his passing.

Nationality and Profession(s)


Dean Spade is an American lawyer, activist, and author. His work spans various fields, including law, academia, and social justice activism.

Early Life and Background


Growing up in a middle-class family in the Midwest, Dean Spade's early life was marked by a sense of privilege that would later inform his critique of poverty and inequality. After dropping out of college, he pursued a career as a DJ and artist before eventually earning a law degree from Seattle University.

Major Accomplishments


Dean Spade's work has been characterized by its intersectional focus on issues affecting marginalized communities. Some notable accomplishments include:

Co-founding the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP), an organization dedicated to providing free legal services to low-income individuals and advocating for policy changes that benefit queer and trans people.
 Developing a pioneering approach to poverty law, which emphasizes the need to address systemic inequality rather than simply providing individualized support.
Publishing influential work on issues such as welfare reform, homelessness, and police violence.

Notable Works or Actions


Some notable works by Dean Spade include:

Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law (2011): A critical examination of law and its impact on marginalized communities.
*Protest and Politics: The Battle for Welfare Rights in New York City (2017): An analysis of the struggle for welfare rights in 1970s New York City.

Impact and Legacy


Dean Spade's work has had a profound impact on the fields of law, social justice activism, and critical queer studies. His commitment to addressing systemic inequality and challenging dominant narratives around poverty and disability has inspired a new generation of activists and scholars.

Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered


Dean Spade is widely quoted and remembered for his unwavering commitment to social justice and his innovative approach to addressing issues affecting marginalized communities.

Quotes by Dean Spade

Trans activism in the US has most frequently been grassroots, centered on poverty and criminalization, and often oppositional to the exclusionary “mainstreaming” threads in gay and lesbian politics and feminist politics.
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Trans activism in the US has most frequently been grassroots, centered on poverty and criminalization, and often oppositional to the exclusionary “mainstreaming” threads in gay and lesbian politics and feminist politics.
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I see the concepts spatially in my mind. I see the boxes and corrals and grids into which administrative systems require people, things and information to be fit in order to be legible, made to live, or in order to facilitate death and abandonment.
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I see the concepts spatially in my mind. I see the boxes and corrals and grids into which administrative systems require people, things and information to be fit in order to be legible, made to live, or in order to facilitate death and abandonment.
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Power is not a matter of one dominant individual or institutions, but instead manifests in interconnected, contradictory sites where regimes of knowledge and practice circulate and take hold. This way of understanding the dispersion of power helps us realize that power is not simply about certain individuals being targeted for death or exclusion by a ruler, but instead about the creation of norms that distribute vulnerability and security.
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Power is not a matter of one dominant individual or institutions, but instead manifests in interconnected, contradictory sites where regimes of knowledge and practice circulate and take hold. This way of understanding the dispersion of power helps us realize that power is not simply about certain individuals being targeted for death or exclusion by a ruler, but instead about the creation of norms that distribute vulnerability and security.
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Trans rights formation that mimics the models and strategies of the lesbian and gay rights framework is growing, and there are many significant strategy disagreements between those building that work and those doing racial and economic justice centered trans work.
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Trans rights formation that mimics the models and strategies of the lesbian and gay rights framework is growing, and there are many significant strategy disagreements between those building that work and those doing racial and economic justice centered trans work.
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I am not arguing that we should never use legal reform as a tactic. Instead, I argue that it should not be a goal.
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I am not arguing that we should never use legal reform as a tactic. Instead, I argue that it should not be a goal.
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We should understand that in the context of the US, where our legal system is based in settler colonialism, capitalism and white supremacy, changing laws will never sufficiently change the conditions of harm and violence our movements seek to transform.
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We should understand that in the context of the US, where our legal system is based in settler colonialism, capitalism and white supremacy, changing laws will never sufficiently change the conditions of harm and violence our movements seek to transform.
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I have deliberated carefully about which of the terms that are unfamiliar to many of my readers I wanted to take time to introduce and explain, and which terms I would not introduce, despite the fact that I find them useful in my other work, in teaching, or in other activist contexts.
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I have deliberated carefully about which of the terms that are unfamiliar to many of my readers I wanted to take time to introduce and explain, and which terms I would not introduce, despite the fact that I find them useful in my other work, in teaching, or in other activist contexts.
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Making my work more visual is something I am increasingly excited about. I am hopeful that it will broaden access to some of the ideas being engaged in activist and scholarly communities of which I am part.
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Making my work more visual is something I am increasingly excited about. I am hopeful that it will broaden access to some of the ideas being engaged in activist and scholarly communities of which I am part.
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We should interact with legal reform tactically, knowing that it will not meet our ultimate goals but asking whether there are ways that engaging with particular reforms might benefit our work and help reduce certain harms or dangers.
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We should interact with legal reform tactically, knowing that it will not meet our ultimate goals but asking whether there are ways that engaging with particular reforms might benefit our work and help reduce certain harms or dangers.
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We have seen the most well-funded gay and lesbian rights organizations valorize the US military in their work seeking inclusion in military service.
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We have seen the most well-funded gay and lesbian rights organizations valorize the US military in their work seeking inclusion in military service.
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