As the South Goes: Movement Lawyering for Black-led Worker Cooperatives in Atlanta

Publication Title

Georgetown Law Journal

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Despite a rich history of cooperative economics, the American South is home to few Black-led worker cooperatives. Instead, Atlanta, America’s capital of Black capitalism, and other southern cities, promote the conventional capitalist business structure as the best pathway to Black self-determination. This Essay challenges that position. Despite procedural, structural, and cultural barriers to Black-led worker cooperatives, many of which are entrenched in the law, it argues that Black-led worker cooperatives rooted in a solidarity economy can best enable Black economic freedom and self-determination. Drawing on a recent Atlanta-based study of Black employee ownership, this Essay proposes procedural, structural, and cultural initiatives that movement lawyers, particularly solidarity economy lawyers, should consider to build Black-led worker cooperatives in the American South.

Recommended Citation

Julian M. Hill, As the South Goes: Movement Lawyering for Black-led Worker Cooperatives in Atlanta, 114 Geo. L.J. 1489 (2026).

Volume

114

Issue

6

First Page

1489

Last Page

1531

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