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Essay

Upon the Conviction of the Villain Sam Bankman-Fried

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Earlier this month, Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. His conviction should not, however, be seen as any kind of victory. For the past three years, SBF successfully exploited a financial regulatory system stuck in older ways of thinking and increasingly incapable of averting illicit finance in the platform economy.. . .
Essay

A Call for Institutional Fairness on Palestine

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Institutional leaders must affirm that advocacy for Palestinian rights, as well as concern for and celebration of Palestinian lives, is squarely within the sphere of legitimate discourse.
Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: November 17, 2023

By LPE Editors

Amna Akbar and Karl Klare kick off a new symposium on non-reformist reforms. Plus, an open letter on the right of students to engage in political speech on Israel/Palestine, an interview with Lina Khan, upcoming LPE events on power-building for the long haul and debt collection in American Medicine, hot new articles from Maggie Blackhawk and Marshall Steinbaum,. . .
Symposium

What Non-Reformist Reforms Meant to Us

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Amna Akbar’s recent article on non-reformist reforms foregrounds a question that the LPE movement often bypasses: namely, how might systemic social change occur in the 21st century? However, in considering this question, the article erases nearly fifty years of theory-work, which has much to teach the legal left as it recovers the notion of non-reformist reform.. . .
Symposium

A Horizon Beyond Legalism: On Non-Reformist Reforms

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Today’s left social movements are increasingly turning to a framework of “non-reformist reform” to guide their efforts to build a just society. But what do non-reformist reforms require? How do they differ from liberal and neoliberal approaches to reform? And what role do law and lawyers have to play in advancing such reforms?
Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: November 10, 2023

By LPE Editors

Zephyr Teachout on the democratic consequences of algorithmic wage discrimination, Jerry Davis on the disappearance of public corporations from the American economy, and Maryam Jamshidi on the creeping authoritarianism that underlies Florida’s decision to ban local chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine. Plus, a happy hour in DC, upcoming events. . .
Essay

Is This the End of Corporate Capitalism?

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Though dominant features of the American economy for most of the 20th century, corporations have become less numerous in the past three decades. Meanwhile, neglected alternatives to the public corporation have proven surprisingly durable. Given the manifest pathologies of shareholder capitalism, the combination of these two trends may suggest pathways out. . .
Essay

Surveillance Wages: A Taxonomy

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Algorithmic wage discrimination – paying workers personalized wages using opaque and fluctuating formulas – is common in the gig economy. But with the recent development of intrusive new forms of employee surveillance, such wage-setting practices will be coming soon to a workplace near you. This post offers a brief taxonomy of five different forms. . .
Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: November 3, 2023

By LPE Editors

Ryan Martínez Mitchell on China’s developing sanctions regime, Yochai Benkler on the role of law in capitalism, and Elettra Bietti on how not to regulate big tech. Plus, upcoming events with Saule Omarova, Marshall Steinbaum, Veena Dubal, Luke Herrine, Hendrik Theine, Tamara Nopper, Eve Zelickson, and Raúl Carrillo; an interview with Amy Kapcynski and. . .
Essay

How Not to Regulate Digital Platforms

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In Paul Gowder’s recent blog post, as well as in his new book, he argues that we should democratize, rather than dismantle or restructure, Big Tech platforms. However, this familiar framing obscures more than it reveals, relying upon an impoverished account of the political economy of technology, of the co-evolution of politics and production, and of. . .
Symposium

The Role of Law in Capitalism

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Within the LPE movement, there is a broad consensus that “law is central to the creation and maintenance of structural inequalities in the state and the market” and that “class power is inextricably connected to the development of racial and gender hierarchies.” These claims, while often articulated in response to neoliberalism, go to the very. . .
Essay

Economic Coercion in a Multipolar World

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Once the near-exclusive prerogative of the United States, unilateral economic sanctions are increasingly a multipolar phenomenon. As Aslı Bâli has recently argued, this current conjuncture may offer a new window to resist forms of economic coercion that legitimate and enforce an unjust neocolonial global order. At the same time, however, there are new. . .

LPE Masthead

Managing Editor James Brandt Editoral Board Amna Akbar Corinne Blalock Veena Dubal Luke Herrine Amy Kapczynski Caroline Parker Aziz Rana Kate Redburn Karen Tani Noah Zatz Student Editors Matthew Buck Brett Davidson Kate Yoon
Student Editor Emeriti Sam Aber Ashraf Ahmed Will Bloom Adam H. Bradlow Isabel Echarte Tariq El-Gabalawy Berto Elysee Molly Gordon Jeff Gordon Ruthie Lazenby Talya Lockman-Fine Andrew Miller Roxana Moussavian Lydia Nicholson Ure Obioma