Critical Legal Scholarship and Activism at Harvard Law School

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Call for Submissions — Law and Political Economy Writing Prize

The Harvard Law School Political Economy Association is delighted to announce a Law and Political Economy Writing Prize for law students and graduate researchers, with submissions due by April 30, 2021. The aims of the prize are twofold. First, in a time of ecological, financial, political and social upheaval, it provides material recognition of work by law students and graduate researchers seeking to address the role of law in contemporary capitalism. Second, it aims to encourage original research and writing in this field by providing entrants with an opportunity to receive feedback from senior scholars.

The prize will be awarded by a panel of distinguished scholars, practitioners, and state or federal judges working with law and political economy approaches. The panel includes Professor K-Sue Park (Georgetown), Dr. Ntina Tzouvala (Australian National University), Professor Christine A. Desan (Harvard), Premal Dharia (Defender Impact Initiative, Harvard) and Judge Lynn Adelman (US District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin). The winning entry will receive a prize of $2,000 and priority consideration for publication in the Journal of Law and Political Economy. Second place will receive a prize of $1,000 and third place a prize of $500. The three winning entries, as well as selected finalists, will be invited to present their papers and receive feedback from senior scholars and practitioners at a workshop to be held in late May/early June 2021.

Possible topics for entries include, but are not limited to:
● Law, ecological crisis, and extractive frameworks
● The legal construction of labor, class, social reproduction, and the gig economy
● Law, financialisation, and market institutions
● Law, racial capitalism, and settler colonialism
● Algorithmic capitalism and technological futures
● Post-growth projects and alternative horizons
● Law, democracy, resistance, and social movements
● Legal pedagogy and the contemporary legal academy

Entries should be sent to HarvardLPE@gmail.com by April 30, 2021. Please forward all entries in both Word and PDF format, without your name or affiliation, along with a separate biographical note of no more than 200 words. Entrants should be currently enrolled in (or have completed in the 2020-21 academic year) a first law degree or masters degree in law, or be a current PhD or SJD candidate in any discipline. We encourage entry from those based inside or outside the United States, although due to the language constraints of our judging panel all entries should be submitted in English.

Entries will be judged on their originality, depth of analysis, and engagement with the intellectual, social and political questions underpinning the law and political economy movement. Entries should be between 8,000 and 12,000 words including footnotes and may be formatted in any standard citation style. The work should not (in whole or in substantial part) have been previously published in a journal or other publication.

Inquiries about the writing prize can be addressed to HarvardLPE@gmail.com.

Alternative 1L Curriculum

Many of us came to law school interested in how the law can advance justice, only to find ourselves disoriented by a curriculum seemingly uninterested in these questions. This syllabus is a suggestion of readings.

Nonetheless, the law has significant implications for social justice, inequality, and democracy, and we can build that community together.

Interested in learning more,  visit https://www.alternativelegaleducation.com/