CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
1–6 September 2025
hypha_etc campsite, Câmpu Cetății. Jud. Mureș (Romania)
Deadline for applications: June 1
Marxism & Sciences Journal, in collaboration with tranzit.ro/cluj, organises its second symposium at the hypha_etc campsite in Câmpu Cetății (Romania) between 1–6 September, which attempts to foster a forum for discussing the chances for collectively building up an international network of projects in particular pertaining to Radical Science and Art activism, Socialist Heritage Studies and Critical Contemporary Research.
In today’s situation, when Marxist thought seems ‘undead’ and has retreated to the academic realm, all we offer, it seems, are attempts at dissemination of ideas and publication projects (book series, journals etc.). We want to discuss what can be done about it and how that ‘retreat’ is not fortuitous, since Marxist terminology seems indispensable especially in the realm of ‘knowledge production’ and ‘knowledge economy’. We would like to discuss the possibility of building up a platform of exchange, education and information that goes beyond a collection of papers, pamphlets, and books that describe the situation, but to actively connect local grassroots activism and global academic and artistic research. The split of the realms seems to be a major obstacle to us nowadays. This aim in mind we should start in the fields we already work in.
We want to analyse the situation of today and ask – self-critically – about the relevance of Marxist perspectives inside and outside of the sciences and to actively explore the outlook for critical knowledge projects in different fields and from different perspectives. What is critical knowledge? How can we produce, share and disseminate it? What are the chances of exchange and mutual support of projects dedicated to critical knowledge?
We invite participants who already engage or want to become engaged in such a practice to report about problems they are facing, about their projects and to interact with us about mutual collaborations, such as an online platform for connecting different activities and making them more visible to the public. We deem internationalisation and networking a first step to make Marxist and critical research more relevant and to offer possibilities of exchange also in terms of educational projects and curricula development.
Facing the global rise of right-wing politics and the weakness of leftist and ‘posthumanist’ positions throughout the world, alongside the different social and ecological crises on Earth we have to aim at formulating answers and to make our voices heard. Our symposium attempts to integrate different fields and endeavours to provide research, motivation and education in a pluralist and Marxist-inspired perspective.
While the Symposium will feature short presentations and roundtable discussions, emphasis is put on interactive exchange and group discussions.
Please send a short introduction, project description and/or ideas you want to discuss (max. one page) to marxismandsciences [at] gmail.com.
Further details including registration and participation fees at: marxismandsciences.org/symposiums/