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 Events
Capitalism’s Long, Difficult, and Experimental Treatment Regimen
In Katharina Pistor’s penetrating diagnosis, the law that constitutes capitalism spreads like a virus, and the only plausible cure is a new code of just private law. If this is indeed the remedy, we must devise a treatment regimen, figure out how to administer it, and deal with any harmful side-effects.
Weekly Roundup: Oct. 30
Ganesh Sitaraman on public utility regulation and AI, Zohra Ahmed and Brishen Rogers on the latest developments of the ALPE, and a roundtable on the right to stay and private law. Plus, Sharon Block, Ben Sachs, and Laura Weinrib on the legality of the Harvard Grad Students Union strike, Elettra Bietti on two legal avenues for reducing tech's addictive design, Susannah Glickman and Aaron Benanav with a special issue on AI and Labor, Trevor Jackson on Arjun Jayadev and J.W. Mason Against Money, The Movement Law Lab on getting involved to protect the midterms, and Alyssa Battistoni on the latest episode of the Dig.
Five Perspectives on Private Law and the Right to Stay
What would a meaningful right to stay require? And how can private law help disadvantaged people and families build lasting, rooted communities? Marissa Jackson Sow, Allison Tait, Carla Spivack, Alina Ball, Juan Carlos Ibarra, and Carliss Chatman weigh in.
New Developments from the Association of Law and Political Economy
A new board of directors and executive committee, an upcoming conference, a junior faculty forum, new member-led initiatives: much is afoot in the ALPE.