Rachel Lopez
LightNews LightNews
rlopez.bsky.social
Rachel Lopez
@rlopez.bsky.social
9K followers 1.7K following 190 posts
Law prof writing on intl law, human rights, crim law, & participatory law scholarship.

Things I've written:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=2211717
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
rlopez.bsky.social
Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · Nov 14
Published today—at the start of Transgender Awareness Week—in the American Journal of International Law, my new book review, "International Law as a Site for Queer Joy?" arrives at a moment that feels both personal and profound.

Now up at @ssrn.bsky.social : papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
International Law as a Site for Queer Joy?
This essay reviews two recent edited volumes—Queer Engagements with International Law: Times, Spaces, Imaginings and Queer Encounters with International Law: Li
papers.ssrn.com
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
felixhaass.bsky.social
🚨Job alert! 🚨

I'm advertising a PhD position (66%) in Comparative Politics at HU Berlin. Ideal candidates combine a research interest in autocratic politics, conflict, and/or political violence with strong quantitative methods skills.

⏳ 4 (+2) years | 🗓 DL 16.01; Start March/April 26

More info:
Research fellow (m/f/d) in the field of “contentious politics/political violence/autocratic politics” - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
www.hu-berlin.de
January 6, 2026 at 11:17 AM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
maybell.bsky.social
Are you going to be at #AALS2026 this evening? My suggestion…skip the boring evening school sponsored parties at the hotel and go to the Joan of Arc parade, which marks the start of Carnival. It starts at 7:30 and is in walking distance of the conference hotel. joanofarcparade.org
- Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc
NEW ROUTE AND EARLIER 7:30 START TIME!!! Details News from our Facebook feed.... Site editor log-in
joanofarcparade.org
January 6, 2026 at 11:23 AM
rlopez.bsky.social
I wrote a piece about two years ago that feels scarily relevant to today. Sometimes you just want to be wrong.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Aggression in Law’s Clothing: Does Might Still Make Right?
According to a well known fable, a wolf cloaked itself in sheep’s clothing to hide amongst a shepherd's flock, so that it could slowly eat the shepherd’s sheep
papers.ssrn.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:25 AM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
janinadill.bsky.social
I fear we are going to have to say this a lot again:

Int law prohibits bombing countries for the sake of democracy. FOR VERY GOOD REASON. It tends not to work.

Attacking a country because its leader lacks legitimacy - whether as pretext or sincerely held rationale - is still just an aggression.
anneapplebaum.bsky.social Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 5d
Remember that there is a legitimately elected president of Venezuela: Edmundo Gonzalez. He won the election in 2024.
January 3, 2026 at 11:55 AM
rlopez.bsky.social
Thought my 40s would look much different than my 20s but here I am again at a Built to Spill show on a Thursday. 🫤
December 19, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
andyguess.com
The Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow to work with an interdisciplinary team (me, @bstewart.bsky.social, and @manoelhortaribeiro.bsky.social).

Link: puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app...

Please apply by THIS SUNDAY, Dec. 14!
We are seeking a Fellow to lead cutting-edge research on short-form video content and its societal implications. Bridging the gap between computer vision, causal inference, and computational social science, the Fellow will focus on the large-scale analysis of TikTok data (using an existing, massive dataset). The position involves developing novel multimodal methods to understand how short-form algorithmic content shapes public opinion, political polarization, and online culture. This is a unique opportunity to work at the forefront of the field, combining rigorous social science research designs with state-of-the-art computational techniques.
December 9, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
itayravid.bsky.social
Breaking my partial social-media hiatus w/3 new papers:
Missing Children Discrimination (Wis. L. Rev 2025(4)) w/ Tanisha Brown— shorturl.at/5rl86 abstract 👇)
Anti-Holistic Algorithms (forth. Vanderbilt L. Rev)
(Re)Individualizing Criminal Law (forth. B.C. L. Rev)
More soon on SSRN—comments welcome!
November 26, 2025 at 10:42 PM
rlopez.bsky.social
When academics talk about scholarly impact I don’t think they are thinking about messages like these, but more than anything else they are what keep me writing.

Thank you so much, Cris, for this motivation to keep pushing!
crisveijk.bsky.social Cris van Eijk @crisveijk.bsky.social · Nov 18
Goddamn, this is a book review. Why am I emotional. This is a *book review* why am I crying-
November 21, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
ninalakhani.bsky.social
By me: Israeli armed forces and settlers used bombs, dogs, poison and machinery to attack Palestinian water sources over 250 times in five years, new data reveals @pacificinstitute.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Israel attacked Palestinian water sources over 250 times in five years, data reveals
Armed forces and settlers used bombs, dogs, poison and machinery to attack people and infrastructure at key sites
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:51 PM
rlopez.bsky.social
Published today—at the start of Transgender Awareness Week—in the American Journal of International Law, my new book review, "International Law as a Site for Queer Joy?" arrives at a moment that feels both personal and profound.

Now up at @ssrn.bsky.social : papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
International Law as a Site for Queer Joy?
This essay reviews two recent edited volumes—Queer Engagements with International Law: Times, Spaces, Imaginings and Queer Encounters with International Law: Li
papers.ssrn.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
jemtseva.bsky.social
I’m presenting my new paper at Sciences Po on Nov 26 - stop by if you are in Paris! And if you are not, invite me to present it at your institution so I can use my travel budget before teaching term starts 😆
November 13, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
fjquintana.com
Delighted to see JIEL 28(3) out in the world, which includes my article 'Dollar Dominance, De-Dollarisation, and International Law'.

The rest of the issue is packed with sharp work (inc @jbentonheath.bsky.social, @dcpeat.bsky.social, @elenachachko.bsky.social).

academic.oup.com/jiel/article...
November 7, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
jemtseva.bsky.social
Friends, I am ordering (academic) books today. Hit me up with your your favorite ones (it can be old classics and new books on the market) 🙏
November 6, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
nycplan.org
Feeling inspired to take action this morning?

Join us in calling our City Council members and demand .5% of the budget be committed to fund our libraries!

Already called? Tell us how it went:

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
An image still from the movie mean girls, where both characters are wearing pink, with text that reads “On Wednesdays we demand .5% of the budget for library funding”.
November 5, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
richardawilson.bsky.social
Signed #AAUP petition against government violation of First Amendment.
#EducationNotIdeology

You can too!
actionnetwork.org/petitions/tr...
Trump Higher Ed Compact 2025
We stand for education—for science, for students and for freedom—and against this backward, anti-American policy. We call on university leaders, faculty, staff and students to unite in rejecting the T...
actionnetwork.org
November 3, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
templelaw.bsky.social
Professor @rlopez.bsky.social's work "reinforces Temple's broader mission as a public research university - one that seeks to serve the common good through meaningful, real-world engagement." Read more in this Temple University profile.

https://lnkd.in/ejpa4J34
October 31, 2025 at 3:51 PM
rlopez.bsky.social
Temple wrote up this really nice article about my work and new chaired professorship. Changing academic home can be challenging. It feels like starting over again which is why I am grateful to feel so seen and supported by my newish academic home.

news.temple.edu/news/2025-10...
Temple Law’s Rachel López is reimagining the legal system
Leonard Barrack ’68 Chair in Law Rachel López's Participatory Law Fund and global human rights research is changing who gets a voice in the legal system.
news.temple.edu
October 31, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
janinadill.bsky.social
Reports of mass killings and targeted attacks against health facilities in El Fasher.
@HRL_YaleSPH
identifies apparent "pools of blood" visible from space. Western governments need to increase pressure on the conflict parties.

files-profile.medicine.yale.edu/documents/b9...
October 30, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
stevevladeck.bsky.social
There's a longstanding debate over the value of law professor amicus briefs at #SCOTUS.

I'll just note that the additional briefing the Court ordered today in the Illinois National Guard case was in direct response to an amicus brief filed by ... a law professor (@martylederman.bsky.social).
October 30, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
maybell.bsky.social
Yo!
law.tulane.edu/news/profess...
Professor Maybell Romero Named Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Programs
Tulane University Law School News
law.tulane.edu
October 30, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
elliemargolis.bsky.social
I’m excited for this! “Groundbreaking” is overused to describe legal scholarship, but in @rlopez.bsky.social’s case, it is apt.
templelaw.bsky.social Temple University Beasley School of Law @templelaw.bsky.social · Oct 21
Join us tomorrow, Oct. 22, as Barrack Chair in Law Professor @rlopez.bsky.social delivers the Friel-Scanlan Lecture, No Justice for Us Without Us: Participatory Law, Lived Realities, and the Making of Transformative Legal Futures.

https://law.temple.edu/events/friel-scanlan-lecture-october-22-2025/
Join us tomorrow, October 22nd, as Barrack Chair in Law, Professor Rachel López delivers the Friel-Scanlan Lecture, No Justice for Us Without Us: Participatory Law, Lived Realities, and the Making of Transformative Legal Futures. The lecture will examine how lived experience can serve not only as data or narrative, but as a source of legal knowledge in its own right. Professor López will trace the development of Participatory Law Scholarship (PLS)—an emerging genre of legal scholarship she pioneered with Terrell Woolfolk, Kempis Songster, and Meredith Elizalde, each of whom has personally experienced the injustices of the criminal legal system. This approach challenges traditional boundaries between legal expertise and experiential knowledge. By centering voices historically excluded from the legal academy and lawmaking, PLS—and this lecture—invite us to reconsider whose knowledge counts in shaping the law and to imagine a more inclusive, responsive, and just legal order. 📅 Wednesday, October 22, 2025 🕚 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. 📍 Duane Morris LLP Moot Court Room 🥂 Light reception to follow
October 21, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
djag2.bsky.social
Job alert! We have a 5 year fixed term teaching-focussed position in our new Indo-Pacific Studies program. Can highly recommend UNSW Canberra as a place to work.

IPS is an emerging field, so applications welcome from cognate disciplines.

Details: external-careers.jobs.unsw.edu.au/cw/en/job/53...
Lecturer, Indo-Pacific Studies
Share your knowledge and expertise in Indo-Pacific Studies with our cohort at UNSW Canberra.
external-careers.jobs.unsw.edu.au
October 2, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
corinneblalock.bsky.social
Paper and panel proposals for the first *big* LPE conference are due TOMORROW!!

Whether you are a law professor, lawyer, organizer, or academic in a different field, all proposals are welcome!!

lawandpoliticaleconomy.org
Association of Law & Political Economy Conference 2026
September 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM
rlopez.bsky.social
Syllabus Sourcing: Hoping for a little help!

I'm looking for readings that challenge whether rights are the "right" frame for protecting humanity and promoting equality.

I'll assign Marx and maybe excerpts from "How Rights Went Wrong." But any other recs particularly for a human rights course?
August 19, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Rachel Lopez
maybell.bsky.social
Corporate and business law people: Come work with me! We're especially taking a look at laterals this year.
Tulane University School of Law invites applications from entry-level and lateral candidates for one or more tenure-track faculty positions. We welcome applications from candidates with teaching and research interests in all topics, but we are particularly interested in candidates who focus on corporate and business law. To apply, please use the Tulane University portal: https://apply.interfolio.com/171205. To learn more about the law school, visit our website at https://law.tulane.edu/. All inquiries about the positions should be directed to: Stephen Griffin, Appointments Committee Chair, sgriffin@tulane.edu. Tulane University is an equal opportunity educator and employer committed to providing an education and employment environment free of unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Legally protected demographic classifications (such as a person’s race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, shared ancestry, disability, genetics, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws) are not relied upon as an eligibility, selection or participation criteria for Tulane’s employment or educational programs or activities. Tulane University is responsible for providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities throughout the applicant screening process. If you need assistance in completing an application or during any phase of the interview process, please contact the Office of Human Resources by phone at 504-865-4748 or by email at hr@tulane.edu.
August 17, 2025 at 10:06 PM