A Materialist Defense of Utopian Thought – Søren Mau

Ever since Marx dismissed the ‘utopian socialists’ and declared that “communism is the most determined opponent of all utopianism,” Marxists have been skeptical of attempts to provide detailed descriptions of a post-capitalist world. Utopian thought has been deemed impossible, useless, and undesirable. In this talk, Søren Mau will argue that Marxist anti-utopianism contains many important insights but is not equally valid in all historical contexts. He will contend that our contemporary moment—marked by the rise of the far right, fragmented struggles, unchecked capitalism, prolonged economic stagnation, deindustrialization, and escalating climate crises—calls for a reevaluation of utopian thought. Drawing on a philosophical critique of classical anti-utopianism and a historical analysis, Mau offers a materialist defense of utopian thinking as an integral part of the struggle for freedom in the 21st century.

Søren Mau is a political philosopher and the author of Mute Compulsion. His work centers on critical theories of capitalism, power, ecology, the body, technology, human nature, and utopian thought, with the central theme of freedom: its nature and sources, the political and economic barriers to its realization under contemporary capitalism, and its potential forms in a post-capitalist world.

The event will take place in English.

This event is a collaboration between the Center for Critical Studies and the Transformation Lab.

Contact: ccs@leuphana.de