Location: Multifunktionsraum (A205) and Konferenzraum (A222) at Neues Institutsgebäude (NIG), 2nd floor Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Vienna
Organised by Valerie Scheibenpflug (University of Vienna) & Julia Werthmann (University of Vienna)
According to Karl Marx, democracy is the “resolved riddle of all constitutions.” However, it raises countless further questions. One of its central unresolved issues concerns the tension between the democratic norms of freedom, equality, and solidarity on the one hand, and capitalism on the other. While Critical Theory provides a robust analysis of the structural constraints on emancipation within capitalism, Radical Democratic Theory addresses this tension primarily by emphasizing the power of social struggles to democratize democracy.
This conference aims to explore the tension between capitalism, democracy, and emancipation, as well as the different ways in which Radical Democratic Theory and Critical Theory approach this issue. By doing so, it seeks to foster a productive dialogue between radical democratic and critical perspectives.
Program
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
18.00 – 19.30 Keynote Lea Prix (Dortmund) (Multifunktionsraum, A205): The Other Work: A Critical Theory of Modern Working Society
20.00 Dinner at Pizzeria Angolo
Thursday, March 19, 2026
10.00 – 10.30 Registration and Welcome (Konferenzraum, A222)
10.30 – 11.30 Introduction (Konferenzraum, A222) Valerie Scheibenpflug (Vienna): Constructivism or Materialism? From Marx' Theses on Feuerbach to Contemporary Debates
11.30 – 13.00 Panel 1 (Konferenzraum, A222). Moderation: Annemarie Wünscher
Julia Werthmann (Vienna): Beyond Economism and Politicism. A Dialogue between Chantal Mouffe und Nancy Fraser about the Relation of Capitalism and Democracy
Sebastian Staab (Frankfurt): The Politics of Capital
13.00 – 14.30 Lunch at Vinzi Rast
14.30 – 16.00 Panel 2 (Multifunktionsraum, A205). Moderation: Anna Weithaler
Chiara De Cosmos (Modena): Rediscovering the Praxis of Critical Theory: Antagonisms, Conflicts and Emancipative Attitudes within Society
Max Henke (Bremen): Counter-Hegemonic Practices in a Capitalist Totality? A Critical Dialog between Theodor W. Adorno and Ernesto Laclau/Chantal Mouffe
16.00 – 16.30 Break
16.30 – 18.00 Keynote Oliver Marchart (Vienna) (Multifunktionsraum, A205): „Capitalism does not exist“. The Economy as Epistemic, Scientific and Political Object
18.30 Dinner at Gasthaus Rebhuhn
Friday, March 20, 2026
10.00 Arrival (Multifunktionsraum, A205)
10.30 – 12.00 Panel 3 (Multifunktionsraum, A205). Moderation: Hannah Niemeyer
Johannes Siegmund (Vienna): Refugees or Migrants? Border Struggles between Democratization and Anti-capitalism
Stefan Rohrhirsch (Bielefeld): Politicizing Nature: Critical Theory and Radical Democratic Theory on Ecology
12.00 – 13.30 Lunch at Vinzirast Mittendrin
13.30 – 15.00 Panel 4 (Multifunktionsraum, A205). Moderation: Kyra Kraus Witzel
Manuela Peitz (Berlin): Labor and Totality: Praxis, History, and Emancipation beyond Determinism and Contingency
Livia de Souza Lima (Regensburg): Undoing the Value-Form: Racial Ontology, Democratic Contingency, and Quilombo Imaginaries
15.00 – 15.30 Break
15.30 – 17.00 Open Workshop (Multifunktionsraum, A205) with Murat Ates (Vienna): What does Liberation mean?
Lunch & Dinner: Pizzeria Angolo, Währinger Straße 22, 1090 Vienna// Gasthaus Rebhuhn, Berggasse 24, 1090 Vienna// Vinzirast Mittendrin, Währinger Straße 19, 1090 Vienna
