#marx2018: Launch of the Karl Marx year

International experts from academia, think-tanks and policy-making addressed the question "Capitalism forever – Or is there any utopian potential left?".

Ever since the global economic crisis started, people’s confidence and trust in the capitalist system has been undermined. All the more important appear considerations on economic and ideological alternatives on how to structure our societies. With the aim of reflecting on possibilities of a post-capitalist society on a more abstract and theoretical level, the panel debated today’s applicability of Marxist theories, the future of capitalism and drivers of social, economic and political transformations.

The conference facilitated a vivid exchange of ideas and opinions, revealing both optimistic and pessimistic accounts of the possibilities of a post-capitalist society. In spite of different perspectives, the panel’s overall critique on the shortcomings of capitalism, namely in its ability to provide for a human, sustainable and just development of societies, was unambiguous and proved the relevance and significance to discuss the broad range of analysis, theory, and optimism Karl Marx offered in the 21st century.