The Danish Society for Marxist Studies invites you to our annual conference. This year’s theme is “Power – Conflict and Contradictions” and the keynotes will be given by Marius S. Ostrowski (Oxford University) and Sara R. Farris (Goldsmiths, University of London). The conference will take place on the 4-5 October at the Danish School of Education (DPU) in Emdrup, Copenhagen.
The aim of the conference is to interrogate Marxist perspectives on power. The power of capital relies on and reproduces a wide array of social contradictions and antagonisms relating to class, gender, race, sexuality, body forms, culture, nationality. That domination and exploitation historically have gone hand in hand seems beyond questioning, so instead we will ask how and through which mechanisms the two have been linked. How can we best understand the ways in which capital has produced or reshaped and utilized identity markers as class, race and gender? If capital is ‘the command over unpaid labour’ (Marx, Capital), what does that mean for our understanding of the relation between economic and political power? Is there a distinctive Marxist perspective on power, and if so, how should we define it? Is ‘capital’ something that can exercise power, and what is the relation between Marxist and non-Marxist (mainstream and critical) conceptions of power? Is power something that can or should be ‘taken’, and if so, what would that mean in the current conjuncture?
We welcome papers which reflect on these questions in the context of contemporary capitalism as well as in the different historical constellations of capitalist societies and from historico-political as well as abstract-theoretical perspective.
You can read more and find the full Call for Papers on our homepage. Abstract of no more than 300 words in Danish or English should be emailed to info@marxistiskestudier.com before 15 August.
