The Law and Political Economy (LPE) Project brings together a network of scholars, practitioners, and students working to develop innovative intellectual, pedagogical, and political interventions to advance the study of political economy and law. Our work is rooted in the insight that politics and the economy cannot be separated and that both are constructed in essential respects by law. We believe that developments over the last several decades in legal scholarship and policy helped to facilitate rising inequality and precarity, political alienation, the entrenchment of racial hierarchies and intersectional exploitation, and ecological and social catastrophe. We aim to help reverse these trends by supporting scholarly work that maps where we have gone wrong, and that develops ideas and proposals to democratize our political economy and build a more just, equal, and sustainable future.
LPE project
Learn
A variety of resources designed to help faculty and students learn more about LPE, including syllabi from LPE and LPE-related courses, primers on topics such as neoliberalism and legal realism, as well as videos from a number of events we have held over the last year.
Go to LearnEngage
Information about the amazing work being done by LPE student groups, as well as guidance on starting a student group on your own campus! A bureau of affiliated professors and practitioners designed to help faculty and students to bring LPE scholars to their campuses!
Go to EngageEvents
A compendium of upcoming (and past) events put on by the LPE Project, LPE student groups, and other organizations in the LPE ecosystem.
Go to EventsWeekly Roundup: March 28
Chris Essert on homelessness and property; Ganesh Sitaraman, Sanjay Jolly, Zephyr Teachout, Nikolas Guggenberger, Anupam Chander, and Elettra Bietti on the pending TikTok ban; and Meredith Whittaker on regulating social media in a time of rising illiberalism. Plus, upcoming events on Law and American Empire and Law and Marxism, as well as new pieces by Sanjukta Paul, Bryce Tuttle, and Felicia Wong.
Social Media, Authoritarianism, and the World As It Is
Disagreement over recent TikTok legislation reveals a deep divide about our current political moment. Should we, like many of the bill’s proponents, assume the existence of a functional, liberal state whose machinery tends toward justice? Or do recent illiberal trends give us reason to reject this assumption? Before we move to further concentrate global surveillance and propaganda power in the hands of the United States, we should be clear-eyed about the threats to speech and privacy that emanate from within.
Six Reactions to the Proposed TikTok Ban
Ganesh Sitaraman, Sanjay Jolly, Zephyr Teachout, Nikolas Guggenberger, Anupam Chander, and Elettra Bietti share their initial reactions to the pending TikTok ban.
LPE NIGHT SCHOOL: Law & Marxism
“Law and Marxism” is the fourth session of The New School’s LPE Night School. It will be a conversation between Rafael Khachaturian and Igor Shoikhedbrod. What does Marxism have to teach us about law? Does law always reflect the interests of the ruling class, and if so, why does it take on a universal, general…