The Question
Why has the rule of law become so fragile?
Joanna Kusiak
2022/23
Cambridge-based researcher and scholar-activist Joanna Kusiak has been announced as the winner of the 2022/23 Nine Dots Prize for her ‘exciting’ and ‘provocative’ response to our fourth question
Kusiak’s winning essay argued that the rule of law has always been fragile, a result of its paradoxical foundations which bind together law and politics. Taking the case of the 2021 Berlin referendum, in which voters decided to expropriate more than 240,000 properties from corporate landlords into public ownership, Kusiak demonstrates the potential of radically legal politics as a path to deepen our democracies and renew the rule of law. You can read extracts from her winning entry here.
Dr Joanna Kusiak is a scholar-activist who works at the University of Cambridge. Born in Poland, she has been shaped by the emancipatory tradition of the Solidarność movement and by the brutality of the neoliberal transformation. Her work focuses on urban land, housing crises, and the progressive potential of law. In 2021 she was one of the spokespeople of Deutsche Wohnen & Co enteignen, Berlin’s successful referendum campaign to expropriate stock-listed landlords. She also writes and performs poetry.
Nine Dots Prize 2022/23 winner Dr Joanna Kusiak said: “The rule of law promises that all people are free and equal, yet too often it fails to deliver on its promise, getting entangled by power. My book, provisionally titled Radically Legal, showcases how social movements in Berlin and Warsaw work with the law to renew its emancipatory potential. My proposal was the work of love, and I feel elevated by winning the Nine Dots Prize. I am a scholar-activist, which means that I only engage with the topics that I believe are socially important.”
Mandy Hill, Managing Director of Academic Publishing at Cambridge University Press said: “Dr Joanna Kusiak’s insightful, stimulating work on the rule of law is a worthy and timely winner. Her work epitomises Cambridge University Press’ values: enabling inspirational and contested ideas and voices to reach a wider audience. We are excited to support Dr Kusiak to convert her ideas into book form.”
The board

Professor Joanna Page
Director of CRASSH at the University of Cambridge
Joanna Page is Director of CRASSH from October 2022 and a Professor of Latin American Studies at the University of Cambridge
View profile
Urvashi Butalia
Director, Founder and CEO of Zubaan Books
Urvashi Butalia is a well-known and highly regarded essayist and publisher
View profile
Milica Momcilovic
President of World Federation of Science Journalists
Milica Momcilovic is the President of World Federation of Science Journalists and Editor in the Science Programme at the Radio Television of Serbia
View profile
Professor J Jarpa Dawuni
Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University, USA
J Jarpa Dawuni is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University, Washington D.C. She is a qualified Barrister-at-Law before the Superior Courts of Ghana
View profile
Yevgenia Albats
Distinguished Journalist in Residence at NYU Jordan Centre, former Editor in Chief and CEO of New Times, Russia
Yevgenia Albats is a Distinguished Journalist in Residence at New York University's Jordan Centre, and the former Editor in Chief and CEO of the Russian political weekly New Times as well as an anchor with Echo Moskva broadcasting.
View profile
Anne Applebaum
Journalist at The Atlantic and Professor of Practice at LSE Institute of Global Affairs
Anne Applebaum is a staff writer at The Atlantic and a Pulitzer-prize winning historian. She is also Professor of Practice at the London School of Economics’ Institute of Global Affairs where she runs Arena, a program on disinformation and 21st century propaganda.
View profile
Petina Gappah
Writer and lawyer
Petina Gappah is a widely translated Zimbabwean writer and an international trade and investment lawyer, currently she is the Principal Legal Advisor to the Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area
View profile
Professor Simon Goldhill (Chair of Prize Board)
Professor of Greek Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge
Simon Goldhill is Professor of Greek Literature and Culture and Fellow of King's College, Cambridge.
View profile
Peter Kadas
Trustee of the Kadas Prize Foundation
Peter Kadas is a Trustee of the Kadas Prize Foundation.
View profile
Professor Roger Martin
Professor Emeritus at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto
Roger Martin is Professor Emeritus and former Institute Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
View profile
Professor Riccardo Rebonato
Professor of Finance at EDHEC Business School
Riccardo Rebonato is Professor of Finance at EDHEC Business School and Scientific Director of the EDHEC-Risk Climate Impact Institute. Previously he was Global Head of Rates and FX Research at PIMCO. He also served as Global Head of Market Risk, Global Head of Research and Head of Complex IR Derivatives Trading at several UK-based international institutions.
View profile
Professor David Runciman
Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge
David Runciman is Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge and presenter of the podcast Past Present Future
View profile