Call for Papers

The Marx Conference 2027
The Current Conjuncture and the Making of Possible Futures
York University, Toronto
3–5 August 2027

The current conjuncture is marked by deep and intersecting crises of capitalism—rising inequality, deepening poverty, increased militarism, ecological destruction, and the erosion of democratic rights—which fall most heavily on working people, oppressed groups, and the peoples of the Global South. Yet Marxist and socialist forces remain weak and fragmented, and effective revolutionary political leadership remains largely absent, even as anti-capitalist sentiment grows. Why is this the case? And, given the current conjuncture, what forms of organization, strategy, and mass struggle can rebuild a revolutionary Left capable of winning power? What lessons can be drawn from earlier conjunctures, struggles, and revolutions?

Following the inaugural Marx Conference in 2025, the 2027 conference, organized by Marxist Studies in Asian and Global Perspectives (MSGAP), an interdisciplinary and international intellectual initiative based at York University, Toronto, will bring together scholars, students, activists, and organizers to examine the disjuncture between the depth of capitalism’s crises and the relative weakness of left organizing, with the aim of clarifying the conditions for socialist renewal in our time.

MSGAP gratefully acknowledges the generous financial support of Science & Society: A Journal of Marxist Thought and Analysis, whose major contribution has supported the development of MSGAP and its activities, including the Marx Conference. MSGAP also gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Institute of Human Geography. Support specifically for the 2027 conference, including support from Critical Sociology and other journals and organizations, will be acknowledged on the conference website and in the conference program.

We especially welcome individual papers, panels, roundtables, book discussions and book launches that combine theoretical analysis with historical investigation and/or practical experience of socialist organization and struggle. Possible themes include, but are not limited to:

Political economy, ecology, and new technologies

  • Capitalism, the law of value, and economic crisis
  • Domestic labour and the family
  • Dispossession and anti-dispossession politics
  • Cost of living crisis, precarity, and inequality
  • Housing, urbanization, and class struggle
  • Contemporary imperialism and so-called ‘sanctions’
  • Ecological and health crises
  • Dynamics of capitalism in rural and urban spaces
  • Digital technologies and the changing composition of the working class
  • AI, large language models, automation, and surveillance

State and democracy

  • Women’s liberation and struggles of racialized and religious minorities
  • Fascistic forces and cultural nationalism
  • Militarism, permanent war, and the struggle for peace
  • The capitalist state, democracy, and Left electoralism
  • National sovereignty and imperialism
  • Coercion, consent, and concessions in capitalist states
  • State neglect of education and healthcare
  • Neoliberalism and authoritarianism

Socialism, culture, strategy and resistance

  • Socialism in an age of multiple crises
  • Left unity, sectarianism, and the united front
  • Anti-imperialism and Left internationalism
  • The revolutionary party, the masses, and socialist transformation
  • Immediate and transitional demands
  • New working-class strata and challenges facing trade unions
  • Marxist approaches to social movements, NGOs, and social democracy
  • Democratic, trade-union, and class consciousness
  • Students and intellectuals in revolutionary change
  • The university as a site of class struggle by students, teachers and staff
  • Marxism and women’s liberation
  • Marxism and queer liberation
  • National liberation, decolonization and struggles for sovereignty
  • Marxism and popular education
  • Left parties and non-party Left movements
  • Peasants, worker-peasant alliances, and revolutionary transformation
  • Historical perspectives on socialist strategy and organization
  • Transitional societies, including China and Cuba: contradictions and critical lessons
  • Local struggles over water, utilities, dispossession, the environment, local and regional government, and socially responsible development

Individual paper proposals should include a title, an abstract of 250 words or less, up to five keywords, and the author’s name, email address, and institutional or organizational affiliation (where applicable). For multiple authors, please identify the corresponding author.

Panel proposals (3–4 papers, roundtables, or book discussions) should include a panel title, a panel abstract (maximum 400 words), titles and abstracts for each contribution, and contact details for all participants. Incomplete submissions may not be considered.

Submit your proposal using this link:  https://laps.apps01.yorku.ca/machform/view.php?id=3093140.

Timeline
• December 15, 2026: Deadline for abstract submissions
• January 15, 2027: Notification of acceptance/rejection
• March 15, 2027: Registration opens
• April 1, 2027: Preliminary conference program posted online
• May 15, 2027: Early (reduced-rate) Registration ends
• June 30, 2027: Conference registration closes; deadline for withdrawal with full refund
• July 1, 2027: Final conference program circulated

Further information about the conference, the organizing committee, abstract submission, registration, accommodation, and MSGAP is available, or will soon be available, at https://marxiststudies.blog.yorku.ca/. Please direct all correspondence to: msgap[at]yorku.ca.