TheoryLAB provides a space for creative and critical thinking about politics and society. It is open to academics and non-academics alike, and we organise events of all kinds: conferences, workshops, reading groups, and more.

Established in May 2013, TheoryLAB explores points of connection and convergence between different kinds of critical theory within and beyond the study of politics. The idea of a lab for theory signals a way of thinking that is experimental and engages creatively across disciplinary boundaries. A lab builds connections, encounters new materials, and has a transformative capacity, given its open and process-led form.

We offer a platform for staff and PhD students in the School of Politics and International Relations to engage with one another’s work, for visiting scholars to find an intellectual home, and a place for new theory-focused scholarship to be developed, within and beyond conventional academic spaces.