Theme and Rationale

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely seen as a “disruptive” technology, shaping labour markets, work processes, economic value chains, and global governance regimes. Yet, like every other technology, it is shaped by power relations and embedded in dynamics of capital accumulation.

The goal of this summer school is to examine key dimensions of the political economy of AI by bringing together an initial cohort of senior and junior researchers, as well as PhD students, from King’s College London and leading French research institutions, alongside a wider group of participants. The objective is to strengthen collaboration among participants engaged in cutting-edge social science research on AI, with a view to developing joint future research agendas that advance critical approaches to understanding the political economy of AI.

The program will examine the different subjects:

• How AI challenges labour and employment dynamics technological change in the labour process, digitalisation, ‘algorithmic management’, skills and labour markets)
• How AI shapes global value chains and capital accumulation (technological monopolies, hardware, software, cloud, and platform ecosystems driving AI accumulation).
• How governance and regulation deals with AI (comparative industrial policy, national strategies in Europe and beyond, including labour law, AI policy, and international standards).

Prospective participants must submit an application no later than Tuesday, March 17th 2026, comprising of

1. a letter describing the motivation and study interests and
2. a short bio (max. 2 pages).

Application Form:  https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/WEaswxZcPK

There are no participation fees for this summer school (with the exception of an optional dinner, which will be charged), and no funding is available to open participants. Participation is open but limited to a maximum of ten places.

Outline

Day 1 (June 16): Conceptual Foundations and Research Agendas

• Arrival and Introductions
• All participants: Short interventions on a narrowly defined shared set of questions/problem
• Nick Srnicek (KCL)
• Juan Grigera (KCL)
• Patrick Norberg (KCL)
• Peiwen Xiong (KCL)
• Jamie Woodcock (KCL)
• Clément Le Ludec (Panthéon-Assas-Diplab)
• Francesco Massimo (Avignon Université/Sciences Po Paris-CSO)
• Juan Sebastian Carbonell (GERPISA, Université de Liège, Pragmapolis)
• Olivier Alexandre (CNRS-Centre Internet et société)
• Funda Ustek Spilda (KCL)
• Tuğçe Bidav (KCL)
• Annina Claesson (Sciences Po Medialab/CREST-IP Paris)
• Rachel Griffin (Compliant & Accountable Systems Group, RC Trust, University of Duisburg-Essen)

Day 2 (June 17): Producing AI: Value Chains, Infrastructure, and Accumulation

Day 3 (June 18): AI, Labour, and the Transformation of Work

Day 4 (June 19): Capital, Power, and the Governance of AI

Relevant Dates

	Dates
Call for applications	March 17, 2026
Confirmation of acceptance	March 25, 2026
Summer School	June 16-19, 2026

 

Organisers:

• Juan Grigera (King’s College London, juan.grigera@kcl.ac.uk) and
• Juan Sebastian Carbonell (Gerpisa, Université de Liège, Pragmapolis, jscarbonell@uliege.be)