OVERVIEW: The Columbia Journal of Race and Law is pleased to extend a call for submissions for our 2026 Symposium, which will be held in the first week of April 2026 in honor of the life and legacy of revolutionary activist Assata Shakur. The Journal welcomes the submission of original manuscripts — articles, notes, essays and book reviews from scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
This spring, our Symposium is centered around theorizing a world without police, asking the following questions: Can we live in a world without police? What are the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing a more reformist approach? What can we learn from
the experiences of revolutionaries throughout history: how do they inform current movement trajectories, strategic planning, and deliberative discourse around abolition, anarchist criminology, and critical race theory? We welcome scholarship invested in the question of police abolition, seeking to historicize and contextualize efforts to displace, eradicate, or mitigate formal policing structures.
All scholarship submitted must relate to this central theme to be considered for our Symposium and to be published in the 2026 Issue of the CJRL Forum, an exclusively online companion to our Journal. We also are inviting authors whose pieces were selected for publication to participate in our Symposium to discuss the scholarship amongst a panel of other experts. If travel is a barrier to in-person participation, we are open to working with you to ensure your participation.
REQUIREMENTS: Papers should generally be around 20-40 single-spaced pages. Text and footnotes should also conform to the most recent edition of The Bluebook. Along with the piece, please submit a resume and a brief description of how your work advances legal scholarship and is distinct from other publications that pertain to similar issues. For the Symposium, please also mention any anticipated challenges to coming to Columbia Law School in New York City. We welcome both final drafts and works-in-progress to be presented at the Symposium. Submissions from current students will not be considered.
TIMING: We accept submissions on a rolling basis. Submissions will close on Friday, February 28th at 11:59 PM EST.
If you have any questions please direct them to our Managing Online and Symposium Editor, Alexis Jade Ferguson (ajf2242@columbia.edu), Managing Submissions Editor, Xiuping Xiong (xx2457@columbia.edu) or our Editor-in-Chief, Mari Jones (alj2157@columbia.edu).
We look forward to reading your scholarship!