 'Law and Marxism’ is the latest session of The New School's LPE Night School. It is a conversation between Rafael Khachaturian (University of Pennsylvania), Igor Shoikhedbrod (St. Francis Xavier University), moderated by Sandipto Dasgupta (New School).
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What does Marxism have to teach us about law? Does law always reflect the interests of the ruling class, and if so, why does it take on a universal, general form under capitalism? What role--if any--would law have in a socialist or communist society? Marxist approaches from the nineteenth century to the present have grappled with these questions, resulting in a rich theoretical legacy. During this session, the presenters will draw on their work in progress, The Revolution of Law: Developments in Soviet Legal Theory, 1917-1931, to reflect on the challenges associated with revolutionary transformation, the possibilities unleashed, as well as roads not taken, and the differences between liberal and Marxist approaches to law under conditions of revolutionary transition.
The Night School is a collaboration between LPE NYC and the Politics department of the New School for Social Research, designed to introduce non-lawyers to law from a critical perspective. From growing inequality to further entrenching hierarchies of race, class, gender and identity, law is inextricably bound up with many of our most pressing problems. But dominant ways of analyzing law can obscure its role in social and economic life. LPE ('Law and Political Economy') approaches seek to show the way the law structures our distinctive political economy in order to elaborate better tools for making social change.
This series brings together scholars and practitioners for public lectures and conversations on selected legal topics. Each session offers a critical exploration of an important issue in contemporary law and policy. Taken as a whole, the series offers a survey of major questions in critical legal thought and advocacy.
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The series is designed to complement the minor in Law and Social Change at Eugene Lang, but it is open to everyone. Organizers, advocates, and others not currently enrolled in full-time degree programs are encouraged to attend.
Presented by the Politics Department at The New School for Social Research and LPE NYC.Â
Rafael Khachaturian's research focuses on the intersection of contemporary democratic theory, critical theory, and the history of the social sciences. His manuscript in progress, The Rediscovery of the State: Crisis and Knowledge Production in Postwar Political Science, is a study of how the emergence of critical perspectives on social science helped revive theorizations of the state among political scientists between the 1960s and 1990s. His work has appeared in The Nation, Jacobin, Dissent, Polity, Contemporary Political Theory, Political Research Quarterly and more.
Igor Shoikhedbrod is the author of Revisiting Marx’s Critique of Liberalism: Rethinking Justice, Legality and Rights (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). His scholarly works have appeared in journals such as Contemporary Political Theory, The Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, Critical Analysis of Law, Critical Horizons, The Hegel Bulletin, The Owl of Minerva, and the Marx and Philosophy Review of Books. Igor is currently working on a second book project, which focuses on global financial capitalism and the crises of legal form.
Sandipto Dasgupta is Assistant Professor of Politics at the New School for Social Research. He is the author of Legalizing the Revolution: India and the Constitution of the Postcolony (Cambridge University Press, 2024).
Committed to amplifying diverse voices, The New School offers more than a thousand public programs and events each year, providing fresh perspectives and unique learning opportunities. These lectures, exhibitions, concerts, and performances feature prominent and emerging artists, activists, and thought leaders.
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