PEOPLE & PARTNERSHIPS
Founder and Executive Director: Gabriel Rockhill
Associate Director: Jennifer Ponce de León
Program Coordinator: Jared Bly
Program Assistant: Luke Ohr
Program Administrator and Primary Contact: Rosa Dolet <criticaltheoryworkshop@protonmail.com>
Partner Institution: Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Politique (CNRS / EHESS)
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Dates: July 20-31, 2026
Location: EHESS in Paris, France & Online
Time: 5-7 p.m. Paris time unless otherwise indicated
INVITED SPEAKERS
Max Ajl, Taylor Genovese, Julio Huato, Aymeric Monville, and David Peat (for a list of past speakers click here), as well as CTW Directors, Gabriel Rockhill and Jennifer Ponce de León. Members of the Iskra Books collective will also be present for a book fair during the first week. They will share their publications, including the CTW’s AIM series, and participate in the workshop’s activities.
PROGRAM
Unless otherwise indicated below, sessions will take place daily from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Paris time (they will be recorded and can be privately shared if participants cannot attend certain sessions). The format will vary slightly for each meeting, but the sessions will generally take the form of collective discussions and debates focused on the work of the speaker or speakers in question, based in part on pre-circulated texts by them that all of the participants will read in advance. Participants will have the opportunity to prepare questions for the speakers and participate in discussion sessions regarding their own research.
PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE (subject to change)
WEEK I
7/20/26
Gabriel Rockhill & Jennifer Ponce de León, introductory presentation and discussion
Material:
Eduardo Galeano, Upside Down: A Primer for the Looking-Glass World (excerpt)
Pot d’accueil or opening reception
7/21/26
“Rencontre” with Max Ajl
Material:
Max Ajl, “Settler Colonialism in the Late Neocolonial Period“
Max Ajl’s preface to the AIM/Iskra edition of Ali Kadri’s The Accumulation of Waste (forthcoming)
Optional Material:
Ali Kadri, The Accumulation of Waste (forthcoming new edition in the AIM book series with Iskra)
7/22/26
Workshop on the work of Domenico Losurdo with Jennifer Ponce de León & Gabriel Rockhill, as well as authors Taylor Genovese and David Peat, focusing on the special issue of International Critical Thought on his contributions and their contemporary relevance.
Material:
Jennifer Ponce de León & Gabriel Rockhill, “Imperialism and Emancipation: An Introduction to Losurdo,” International Critical Thought (forthcoming)
Taylor Genovese and David Peat, “Herrenvolk Marxism as Class Collaboration: Recovering the “Struggle for Recognition” through Losurdo’s Methodology,” International Critical Thought
Optional Material:
Other articles from the Losurdo special issue published by International Critical Thought
7/23/26
Workshop with Jennifer Ponce de León & Gabriel Rockhill regarding the essay below by Bertolt Brecht, as well as an open discussion and debate concerning the material from the first week and related issues. Participants are strongly encouraged to formulate questions in advance.
Material:
Bertolt Brecht, “Writing the Truth: Five Difficulties”
7/24/26 (exact date and times will vary depending on participants’ groups)
Participants’ research presentations in small working groups (optional)
WEEK 2
7/27/26
Book launch and discussion with Aymeric Monville & Gabriel Rockhill for Requiem for French Theory: Transatlantic Funeral Dirge in a Marxist Key (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2026).
Material:
Aymeric Monville & Gabriel Rockhill, “Preface” to Requiem for French Theory: Transatlantic Funeral Dirge in a Marxist Key (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2026). The book can be pre-ordered here.
7/28/26
Jennifer Ponce de León in discussion with Gabriel Rockhill regarding her book project on anti-colonialism and the Marxist tradition.
Material:
Roberto Fernández Retamar, “Caliban”
7/29/26
“Rencontre” with Julio Huato
Material:
Julio Huato, “The Political Economy of Digital Technology“
7/30/26
Open discussion and debate concerning the themes of the summer school with Jennifer Ponce de León & Gabriel Rockhill
7/31/26
Final Participants Conference (optional)
Final Reception
PROGRAM FEE & FINANCIAL AID
There is a sliding scale based on income and wealth. Please click here for more details, and check out our Patreon for more options.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
There is a rolling admissions policy, and early applications are encouraged. Applications are due March 15 for the in-person program and by June 15 for the online program.
APPLICATION
The short online application form can be found here. It is also available as a pdf and word document if necessary, but we prefer the use of the online form whenever possible. The application and supporting materials (a CV) can be e-mailed directly to <criticaltheoryworkshop@protonmail.com>. If you have a specific deadline by which you need to know admissions decisions for the purposes of external funding, please let us know via email.
