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Beginning in March 2026, the ACIL lecture series brings together researchers whose work reconsiders the relationship between law and global power. The series examines how international law participates in making and unmaking hegemony.

Rather than treating law as external to global hierarchies, the lectures highlight its role in structuring authority and contestation. Through discussions of the activities of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), of the history of legal instruments of investment protection, of the international role of the dollar, and of economic governance paradigms, the series maps the legal dynamics through which hegemony is crafted, reproduced, and challenged.

Speakers

26 March

Professor Sundhya Pahuja, University of Melbourne

Sundhya’s research focuses on the history, theory and practice of international law in historical context. She has a particular interest in international law and the relationship between global North and South countries. 

13 April

Professor Lauge Poulsen, University College London

Lauge Poulsen is Head of Department and Professor of International Relations & Law at the Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy. He works on the political economy of international economic relations and law.

26 May

Dr Ntina Tzouvala, UNSW Sydney

Ntina Tzouvala is Associate Professor of Law and Justice at the University of New South Wales. Her work focuses on the history, theory and political economy of international law. She is especially interested in historical materialism, deconstruction, feminist and queer legal theory.

8 June

Professor Andrew Lang, University of Edinburgh

Professor Andrew Lang joined the Edinburgh School of Law in 2017 as the Chair in International Law and Global Governance. Prior to that, he was Professor of Law at the London School of Economics. He is an expert in Public International Law, with a specialty in International Economic Law and the Law of the World Trade Organization.