About this episode

The episode discusses the ambiguities of freedom and labor in the context of the Reconstruction Amendments with Professor Lucien Ferguson.

In this episode, we are joined by Assistant Professor of Law Lucien Ferguson (Chicago-Kent College of Law) to discuss the ambiguities of freedom and labor in the constitutional interpretation of the Reconstruction Amendments that were passed after the US Civil War. Our discussion is guided by the landmark Slaughter-House Cases of 1873 that narrowly construed the federal rights protected by the 14th amendment and set the stage for the failure of Reconstruction at the end of the 19th cent...

People in this episode

Hosts: Lillian Cicerchia, Owen Glyn-Williams, Gil Morejón, William Paris

Guest: Lucien Ferguson

Topics covered

• Reconstruction Amendments
• freedom
• labor
• constitutional interpretation
• Slaughter-House Cases
• Reconstruction

Keywords

• Reconstruction
• freedom
• labor
• 14th amendment
• constitutional law
• Slaughter-House Cases
• US history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Chicago-Kent College of Law

Books & works: Slaughter-House Cases

More episodes of What's Left of Philosophy

• UPCOMING STUFF! | SPEP Webinar on Environmental Philosophy | BISR Class on Anti-Oedipus · May 18, 2026 · 2 min
• 134 TEASER | The Problem with Work · May 12, 2026 · 10 min
• 132 TEASER | Marxism and Religion, Part II: The Gospel According to Terry Eagleton · April 6, 2026 · 8 min
• 131 | What's Left of Black Politics? Brandon Terry's Tragic Vision of the Civil Rights Movement · March 23, 2026 · 57 min
• 130 | Max Horkheimer: What Makes Critical Theory Critical? · March 6, 2026 · 1h 4m
• 129 TEASER | The General Strike and Socialism: Sorel's Reflections on Violence · February 16, 2026 · 11 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the What's Left of Philosophy podcast page.