The Anthropocene is marked by a planetary environmental crisis. Since we did not act in the last decades despite various warnings, the time left to respond to the catastrophe has almost run out. There is an urgent need to rethink the entire paradigm of society, economy and politics, when it is too late to save the planet. Radical ideas are necessary because the existing system is not able to offer a solution. Marx’s idea of “degrowth communism,” though barely known in the past, sets up such a new theoretical framework beyond green capitalism, environmental imperialism and colonial extractivism. His last attempt to consciously overcome productivism and Eurocentrism inherent to historical materialism represents the same difficulty of the 21st century, which is characterized by a myth of eternal growth and infinite technological development.
Following Kohei Saito’s evening lecture, the workshop will discuss different approaches to and productive ways of dealing with Kohei Saito’s theses from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Time & Location: Library Erich Auerbach Institute (3rd floor), Weyertal 59 (back building), 50937 Cologne |
December 10, 2024, 9.30 am-6 pm

With contributions from

Kohei Saito – Patrick Eiden-Offe – Leon Wansleben – Kai Koddenbrock – Clemens Greiner – Victoria Huszka –
Nathaniel LaCelle-Peterson – Serena Bassi