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: Race and Third World Marxism

What can we learn from and how can we engage with Third World Marxist groups/movements? What can we learn from Marxist TWAIL about race? How is race related to extraction and colonialism? What does a Marxist TWAIL look like, and what can we do with it in our academic and political work? This session is facilitated by a brilliant comrade working in this field.

Day two: History/Legal History - lessons from the past

How can we use historical materialism as a method in law? How do we approach archives? What can we learn about the construction and erasure of race through a materialist lens? How do we critically interrogate the silences, biases, and erasures of the archive? Can we do legal history from below? What are the uses of historical work for the present/future? This session is facilitated by Parvathi Menon and Grietje (River) Baars.

Day three: Research, Redistribution and Revolution

How can our research support liberatory/revolutionary struggles? How can our research support the redistribution of resources? How do we engage with revolutionary movements, grassroots projects, political education, etc? This session is facilitated by a brilliant comrade working in this field.

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 14 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