The aim of the fourth Karl Marx Congress is to analyse the crisis of neoliberal capitalism (1980s – first quarter of the 21st century). Deadline: 30 June 2026

4th Karl Marx Congress

The Crisis of Neoliberal Capitalism and Necropolitics

The 4th Karl Marx Congress will take place on 22 and 23 January 2027 at NOVA FCSH (Av. de Berna campus, Lisbon, Portugal), organised by the following institutions: Centre for Social Studies (CES), University of Coimbra; CULTRA — Association of Political Economy; Institute of Contemporary History (IHC), NOVA University Lisbon; Institute of Sociology, University of Porto; STEXEU project — The Constitutional Road to Dictatorship (ERC Grant 101163723).

The aim of the congress is to analyse the crisis of neoliberal capitalism (1980s – first quarter of the 21st century) from a dual perspective: that of historical analysis and that of theoretical debate of the crisis in its various dimensions, along with the study of related experiences of social, political, or cultural activism.

To this end, the congress will be organised around plenary sessions (keynote speeches) and the following seven thematic sections:

• Section I: The economic and financial crisis of neoliberal capitalism (nature and characteristics of the crisis of late capitalism; rates of profit and accumulation; centre and periphery; technological revolution and technocracies; financialisation; cryptocurrencies; the privatisation offensive; old and new forms of surplus value extraction and related issues)
• Section II: Politics, hyperpolitics and necropolitics (crisis of legitimacy/representativeness of liberal systems; the capitulation of liberalism; the decline of the two-party system between social democracy and liberal and conservative forces; the neo-fascist threat and its characteristics in the current era; the radicalisation of the traditional right; Trumpism and related phenomena; struggles and impasses of the emancipatory left)
• Section III: Social transformations and struggles (structural and behavioural changes within the working classes, segmentation, precarisation, unionisation; the new balance of power in the world of work: the 2025–26 labour reform in Portugal within the international context of the counter-reform of labour rights; migrant labour; migration, the international division of labour and racialised regimes of accumulation; fear and insecurity among the middle and marginalised classes; processes of pauperisation; changes within the ruling classes, technoligarchy; the new role of algorithmic manipulation and social media; heteronormativity and queer Marxism; experiences of struggle in the workplace, housing, healthcare, education, etc.).
• Section IV: Late capitalism, ecological and environmental disaster, and ecosocialism (the environmental policies of capitalism; the ecological and environmental crisis and its evolution; growth and degrowth, the Anthropocene and the Capitalocene, extractivism; experiences of environmental activism in its various forms and expressions)
• Section V: Feminisms, emancipation and social reproduction (patriarchy and the situation of women in society, politics and the culture of late capitalism; reproductive labour and struggles surrounding social reproduction; LGBTQIA+ rights and discrimination, overexploitation, violence, male power: coexistence, impunity, political conquests, the current situation; neo-fascism, male chauvinism, anti-feminism; feminist struggles; the emancipatory left and the feminist movement; the various currents and expressions of contemporary feminisms).
• Section VI: Culture and cultural counter-revolution (the role of cultural counter-revolution in the emergence of the new neo-fascist far right; the various dimensions of conservative and fascist cultural revisionism: in history, memory, politics, social discourse, ideology; the new role of democratic and mass culture in the transformative understanding of present realities).
• Section VII: Imperialism, war and genocide (new and old forms of imperialism; wars of aggression and imperial rivalry: Ukraine, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran; the collapse of multilateralism and international law; the unpunished return of gunboat diplomacy and the law of the jungle; Trumpism and Latin America: Cuba, Venezuela and similar cases; the arms race; the threat of World War III; the struggles against imperial necropolitics).

Call for papers

Proposals for papers for the congress will only be considered by the Scientific Committee under the following conditions:

a) Their content must fall within the thematic scope of the seven sections of the congress;
b) They must take the form of abstracts – in Portuguese or English – of no more than 2,000 characters, including a very brief identifying note and the authors’ short bio;
c) They must be submitted using this online form.

All proposals for papers must be received by 30 June 2026.

Proposals will be assessed by the congress’ Scientific Committee and proposers will be notified of the outcome by 30 September 2026. FCSH’s room capacity may limit the number of paper proposals that can be accepted.

The 4th Karl Marx Congress is open to the public and admission is free.

Organising Committee

Arturo Zoffmann Rodriguez, IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST
Fernando Rosas, IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST / CULTRA
Giulia Strippoli, IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST
Jonas Van Vossole, CES — University of Coimbra
José Soeiro, Instituto de Sociologia — FLUP
Luís Trindade, IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST
Manuel Loff, FLUP / IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST
Mariana Mortágua, DINÂMIA’CET — Iscte

>> Download the call for papers (PDF) <<