The Center for Marxist Social Studies in Sweden, in collaboration with transform! europe, invites you to the first event of a series od discussions on the left’s need for utopias and utopian thinking at Teater Tribunalen in Stockholm.
Socialists have been accused on the one hand of being naive idealists with unrealistic dreams of a more just society, on the other of being eternal whiners who are better at complaining about the decay of things than at formulating alternative visions of society — this in a time of ongoing climate crisis and galloping inequality where shoddy realpolitik thrives.
Perhaps it is precisely when the political darkness is densest that the need for utopias is greatest?
This will be the first in a series of events during the spring and autumn to discuss our need for utopias and the lack of utopian thinking and imagination in contemporary society.
What do we dream of? What kind of world do we want? Does the left have a need for utopian visions?
The evening is the start of a longer series of talks where we explore different perspectives on utopias and deal with topics such as utopias through history, real paths towards utopias, the climate crisis, feminist utopias and situationism. If you have suggestions for questions related to utopias that you would like covered in this series, please contact the Centre for Marxist Social Studies.
It’s time to wake up from capitalist realism and bring the political imagination to life!
Why do we need utopias?
Date: Tuesday, April 9
Time: 18-20, the doors open for mingling at 17.30
Venue: Teater Tribunalen (subway Zinkensdamm)
Voluntary entrance fee according to ability.
Panel speakers
- Roland Paulsen – author and sociologist
- Nina Björk – author and literary scholar
- Mathias Wåg – journalist, member of Brand’s editorial team, runs the podcast “Apans anatomi” (“Anatomy of the ape”)
- Moderator is Ann Ighe – economic historian and gender researcher