Following the success in the first and second editions, this three-day focused workshop aimed at Marxist scholar-activists will challenge you to reflect on and develop your Marxist legal research and organising within and beyond the year’s themes.  We aim to foster an environment where the participants can learn about the central aspects of each area and discuss and address aspects of their own work, including their research question and how to overcome challenges and avoid pitfalls. In 2026, we will join efforts with the Law by Colour Code project to bring you a Spring School with a focus on Race, Resources and Redistribution. explore and discuss these themes in detail, we plan three Marxist master classes on each of the workshop days. Each master class will start with an exposition on the topic, followed by a guided discussion with the participants. The objective is for everyone to participate in all sessions to cross-pollinate and learn from each other’s ideas, strategies, and tactics across these key areas of struggle for left movements in the contemporary world. Outline of the Spring School programme:

Masterclasses

Day one: Resources and Redistribution (with Max Ajl)

Reconfiguring relations to land and water for the production of food and the extraction of natural resources remains a driver of, yet an often-neglected element of capitalism. In this masterclass, we will explore the legal underpinnings of reconfiguration and redistribution processes. Questions for discussion: What can we learn from and how can we engage with Third World Marxist groups/movements on the topics of race & resources? What's the role of the development paradigm in 'new imperialism' and what's the role & significance of food (plantation economies, world trade law, food subsidies, supply chains, corporate power) and food sovereignty as a claim for redistribution?

Day two: History/Legal History - Lessons from the Past (with Parvathi Menon and River Baars)

Questions for discussion: How can we use historical materialism as a method in law? How do we understand and approach different kinds of archives? How do we critically interrogate the silences, biases, erasures of the archive? Can we do legal history from below? What are the legal histories of empire? What is the role of doctrines of free trade, terra nullius, etc? How were race, gender and sexuality legally constructed as part of the European colonial project? What can we do/are we doing today with lessons from the past?

Day three: Putting our Legal and Research Skills to Work for Social Movements (with Irina Cerić)

Questions for discussion: How can our research and legal practice support social movement struggles? In this session, Irina will speak about her work supporting the indigenous anti-pipeline struggles. She will talk about the use of injunctions and other legal tools, but also how to support movements against state repression, for instance, through know-your-rights trainings and court support. We will discuss how we work with movements and grassroots projects engaged in the defence of their resources, redistributive and anti-racist struggles. How do we share resources with, and put our research and legal skills at the service of, social movements and groups? What is movement lawyering and how do we do it?

Writing workshops

We also offer writing workshops, in which you are invited to discuss your research in pairs and give each other feedback on a work-in-progress. The aim of the writing workshops is to offer an opportunity to all participants to receive feedback on their current research from other participants. 

Writing Workshops are composed of eight participants. We assigned each of the writing workshop participants a paper to present in advance of the workshop, but participants are expected to read and offer feedback on all papers being presented in their group. Each writing workshop group will also have a convenor who will provide feedback to the participants. 

Local Engagement

We are also planning activities with local organisers! 

Watch this space for our master classes convenors and more! 

Accessibility and how to apply

We encourage the participation of PhD students and early career scholars who are active in social movement organising. If you fall outside these categories and would like to join, drop us a line, also! Persons with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply.

Application: To apply, please send us an outline of your project (up to one page), stating your research topic, questions, the methods you are using, and what you hope to get out of this event. You may also include details of your organising activities. Please submit your application by 20 January 2026 to this FORM specifying whether you will attend in person or online and whether you need a letter for your visa.

Successful applicants will be notified within ten days and must send their working paper (draft PhD chapter, article, etc.) to discuss and receive feedback in the writing workshop (between 5,000 – 8,000 words) by 10 March 2026. We are looking forward to receiving your application. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us via email Suzana.rahde@graduateinstitute.ch 

Your hosts in Geneva

The Centre for Law & Social Change at SOAS, University of London: The Centre for Law and Social Change is a hub for connections on the topic of law and social change and a space to generate debate, between scholars, students, practitioners, and social movement organisers. The CLSC is a place for projects encouraging interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral and intergenerational collaboration, with a focus on progressive social change and a commitment to active anti-racist, feminist, and decolonial practice.

The Geneva Graduate Institute: This year’s local host and partner is the Geneva Graduate Institute and the SNSF-funded project Law by Colour Code: Locating Race and Racism in International Law. The project explores the legal governance of food and eco-systems through the prism of structural racism.

Photo Credit: David McLenachan @ Unsplash