The Legal & Political Theory Forum was set up in September 2007 in order to provide an umbrella for seminars and colloquia on topics of common interest to scholars and graduate students working in various disciplinary areas, but particularly in the fields of politics and law. The Forum holds a series of seminars during term-time, at which papers are presented by academics who are based either at LSE or more commonly elsewhere.
The Forum has an excellent track record for holding international conferences. In addition to our regular seminars, our practice has been to hold a major event each Spring. Themes have included Alan Brudner’s constitutional theory (which resulted in a special issue of the Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence), ‘The Rule of Law and Political Emergencies’, ‘Hobbes and the Law’ (which led to an edited volume of essays from Cambridge University Press), David Hume, Adam Smith, and ‘Hayek, Oakeshott and Schmitt on Law, Liberty and State’ (which also produced an edited volume for CUP).
Scholars who have presented a paper at the Forum include: Brian Barry, Nehal Bhuta, Alan Brudner, Clare Chambers, Costas Douzinas, David Dyzenhaus, Katrin Flikschuh, Fonna Forman, Frank Furedi, Ross Harrison, Duncan Kelly, Nico Krisch, Martin Krygier, Jacob Levy, John McCormick, David Miller, Jan-Werner Müller, Liam Murphy, Sankar Muthu, Gerald Postema, Alice Ristroph, John Tomasi, Adrian Vermeule, Lars Vinx, Jeremy Waldron, Leif Wenar and Lea Ypi.
Our policy is to make Forum events as inclusive as possible. All Forum events are open to staff and students from all departments and all academic institutions. The Forum is run by Thomas Poole (LSE Law School).
Events Winter Term 2026
PLEASE NOTE: THIS TERM'S EVENTS START AT 4PM
Wednesday 21 January 2026, 4-6pm
Title: Jonathan Swift and the Emergence of an Enlightenment Constitutionalism
Speaker: Adam Tomkins
Venue: Moot Court Room, 7th Floor, Cheng Kin Ku Building, LSE, London, WC2A 3LJ
Wednesday 18 February, 4-6pm
Title: Beyond Nationalist Thought: India as an Idea, From Sacrifice to Creation
Speaker: Salmoli Choudhuri
Venue: Vera Anstey Room (VAR), First floor, Old Building, Houghton Street, LSE WC2A 2AE
Wednesday 4 March, 4-6pm
Title: Discrimination and Higher-Order Inclusion
Speaker: Adam Hosein
Venue: Moot Court Room, 7th Floor, Cheng Kin Ku Building, LSE, London, WC2A 3LJ
Wednesday 11 March, 4-6pm
Title: Utopian Threads and Legal Frames
Speaker: Neil Walker
Venue: Vera Anstey Room (VAR), First floor, Old Building, Houghton Street, LSE WC2A 2AE
Organisers
Thomas Poole (Law)
Lea Ypi (LSE Government)