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Upcoming summer school

2026 LONDON CRITICAL THEORY SUMMER SCHOOL

The 2026 London Critical Theory Summer School will take place from 22 June to 3 July. It will once again run on Birkbeck's campus in central London.

We are delighted to confirm that a truly exceptional list of tutors has agreed to take part in the 2026 programme. Attendees will be offered a substantial programme of debates, breakout groups, discussions, live and pre-recorded talks, as well as access to Birkbeck’s extensive library facilities.

Each Summer School explores the genealogy and reach of critical theory, whilst encouraging intellectual elaboration and reflection. Our aim is to stimulate progressive, dissident being and thinking.

Our speakers will confront the bleak global situation of ongoing and newly threatened wars, inequality within states and between states, genocide, inhumane policies on migration and welfare, gender-based violence and racial oppression, climate crisis and economic collapse. The balance sheet of contemporary misery is an extensive one. Those who wield power, from states to many private citizens, are no more prepared to extend democracy this year than last, and the mobilising power of Right populism continues to exert a hold, forwarding nativism and undermining critical voices. Perpetual states of exception arise, as market needs triumph over social welfare. Meanwhile, the spectacle of politics reaches further into various types of obscene and cynical display. Automated systems confuse the ability to judge what exists and what is contrived and populaces fracture over algorithms. There is resistance. The Summer School will fan the sparks of that resistance, while clearly assessing the state of things, the psychic, social, and political corollaries for us and others across our contemporary world.

As an intense encounter with theory in its diverse forms, our aim is to think and rethink a world under stress. It gathers global participants who offer detailed insights into local conditions while developing theoretical paradigms that might help us make sense of the seemingly senseless and insensitive oppressions in the world. Our summer school offers a place to explore, together with leading critical scholars, the ramifications of contemporary injustice and the stakes of resistance. What does it mean to wield criticism against oppression while turning our thought towards a horizon of freedom and a more equal and caring future.

We invite students to immerse themselves in two weeks of discussion and debate in the company of our leading tutors. In 2026, we are delighted to welcome a number of scholars – confirmed so far are Mark Nash and Françoise Vergès, alongside our returning speakers, Costas Douzinas, Stephen Frosh, Isaac Julien, Kojo Koram, Esther Leslie, Jacqueline Rose, Christina Varvia, and Eyal Weizman.

  • CONFIRMED SPEAKERS FOR 2026

    • Costas Douzinas, Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Athens, Greece and Professor of Law at Birkbeck, University of London, a founder of the Birkbeck School of Law and the Department of Law of the University of Cyprus, the founding director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London, the President of the Nikos Poulantzas Institute and a former politician
    • Stephen Frosh, Fellow of Birkbeck, University of London, Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, an Academic Associate of the British Psychoanalytical Society, a Founding Member of the Association of Psychosocial Studies, an Honorary Member of the Institute of Group Analysis, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and at the University of São Paulo, Brazil
    • Isaac Julien, installation artist, filmmaker and Distinguished Professor of the Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz
    • Kojo Koram, Professor in Law and Political Economy at Loughborough University
    • Esther Leslie, Professor of Political Aesthetics at Birkbeck, University of London and Fellow of the British Academy
    • Mark Nash, independent curator, film historian, and filmmaker
    • Jacqueline Rose, Professor of Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
    • Christina Varvia, Lecturer of Forensic Architecture at the Centre for Research Architecture, at Goldsmiths, University of London, co-founder and co-director of the Forensic Architecture Initiative Athens / FAIA
    • Françoise Vergès, political theorist, curator and Senior Fellow Researcher Sarah Parker Centre, UCL, London

  • SPEAKERS AND TOPICS IN 2025

The 2026 LCTSS virtual stream is intended as an educational experience for those of you not sure whether you are ready for the full in person course, if you have concerns about travel or are on a reduced budget.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The virtual stream comprises at least two hours of delivery in each day of the Summer School, where you can attend remotely the live-streamed lecture of each speaker teaching at the in-person programme, in addition to five moderated break out sessions, where you can take time to work and discuss around the taught subjects with your peers. While we are not able to offer dedicated 1-2-1 exchange of exclusive dialogues with each lecturer, your questions (collected through the chat function) at the Q&A following each lecture will be prioritised.

The 2026 LCTSS virtual stream will also include allocated time for optional social interactions as well as preferential access to the two weekly public facing sessions of the full Summer School, each of these planned on a Friday.

The application process for the 2026 LCTSS virtual stream is now open and the deadline for applying is Thursday 8 January 2026.