Evgeny Pashukanis (1891-1937) was perhaps the most significant Marxist theorist of law. His work not only inspired early Soviet jurisprudence but also continues to stimulate new waves of Marxist legal thinking.
2024 will mark the hundredth anniversary of his landmark text, ‘General Theory of Law and Marxism’. To celebrate, a group of Marxist legal scholars from around the globe will organise a number of events and activities exploring the significance and enduring relevance of his work not only for law, but also politics and political strategy.
Upcoming Events
Pashukanis@100: Social Forms, Strategies, and Social Struggles in Our America Today (University of São Paulo, Brazil)
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Evgeny Pashukanis’ seminal work General Theory of Law and Marxism, the research group “Critique of Law and Legal Subjectivity” (Department of Philosophy and General Theory of Law, Faculty of Law, University of São Paulo), in collaboration with the Working Group “Critical Legal Thought and Sociopolitical Conflicts” of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), and with support from the Centre for Law and Society in a Global Context at Queen Mary University of London, will host the event Pashukanis@100: Social Forms, Strategies, and Social Struggles in Our America Today. From November 11 to 13, 2024, this three-day in-person event will explore Pashukanis’ foundational contributions to the critique of law and, particularly, its actuality and the strategic challenges posed by current social and political struggles across ‘Our America’. For additional details and to register, visit: https://www.even3.com.br/forum-pachukanis100/
The official languages of the event will be Portuguese and Spanish.
Pashukanis @ 100 (Universidad Academia de Humano Cristano, Chile)
The Universidad Academia de Humano Cristano invites submissions of abstracts for its first conference titled “100th Anniversary of ‘The General Theory of Law and Marxism’: Pashukanis@ 100”. The 2-day, hybrid meeting will take place on November 14 and 15 2024.
Abstracts should be 300 words is an on the area of critical theory and Pashukanis; materialism, dialectics and other related areas. Abstracts should be send to día_teoriacritica@academia.cl and yuri.santander@uacademia.cl no later than 1 June 2024. The primary language of instruction will be Spanish.
Pashukanis & Critique of Right in the Twenty First Century (University of Lund, Sweden)
Past Events
Pashukanis@100: Legacies and Future Directions
The series was launched with a two-day conference held on the 11th and 12th January 2024. Organised by Eva Nanopoulos, Fernando Quintana and Tanzil Chowdhury from the Centre for Law and Society in a Global Context at Queen Mary University of London; and Rob Knox from the Critical Approaches to International Criminal Law Unit at the School of Law, University of Liverpool, the event brought together scholars working on different aspects of Pashukanis’ thought, to discuss the production and reception of his work, its legal insights and how it can be used to grapple with issues of race, gender and contemporary global capitalism.
Below is a recording all the panels from this event.
Pashukanis and the Turbulence of the Present
We live in a period of transition characterised by the rise of right-wing nationalism, international conflict, genocide, and climate instability. Pashukanis and the turbulence of the present is a roundtable on law, transition, and crisis, followed by a conversation where we try to link theory to praxis. What would or does the transition to a world beyond law look like? What would be needed in terms of alternative practices, spaces, and social forms? What do we need to destroy (including structures and ideas), and what needs to be built? What/who can we draw inspiration from, and are we/people already doing? The Centre for Law & Social Change (City Law School, City University) hosted this roundtable in July 2024 with Tapji Garba, Cordelia Belton and their director, Grietje Baars. You can watch the recording of the event here.
If you wish have any questions or would like to organise an event in your own institution or community, you can reach one of the members of the coordinating committee at pashukanis100@gmail.com or message @clsgcQM on twitter/X.
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