Guest Lecture – New Debates on Social Domination: Marxist Political Theory in the Post-Pandemic Era

Berkay Koçak is a political science doctoral researcher from Türkiye, currently based in New Zealand, specializing in political theory and Marxist political economy. Berkay completed a PhD in the Political Science and Public Policy programme at the University of Waikato (2018-2024). During his doctoral studies, Berkay taught at the University of Waikato (2019-2020) and the University of Otago (2022-2023). In addition to these core areas, Berkay’s research interests extend to investigating topics such as the critical political economy of globalisation, Marxist state theory, historical materialism, and Political Marxism.

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New Debates on Social Domination: Revisiting Marxist Political Theory in the Post-Pandemic Era
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The Covid-19 pandemic, following the 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis, has once again revealed the inherent fragility and destructiveness of the capitalist system. Despite this revelation, capitalism has continued its global hegemony by adopting new forms of social domination. This recent escalation of the systemic crisis has catalysed renewed debates on the mechanisms through which capitalism sustains its hegemony amid ongoing systemic crises.

In recent years, Marxist political theory has witnessed a revitalization, marked by fresh perspectives on the reproduction of capitalism through a deeper understanding of the economic power of capital. Emerging frameworks such as Value-form theory, Labour-process theory, and Political Marxism have reoriented the discourse, emphasizing the integration of capitalism as a comprehensive social force rather than a purely economic phenomenon. Søren Mau’s Mute Compulsion (2023) advances this discourse by illuminating the multifaceted and pervasive nature of capital’s power. Concurrently, Heide Gerstenberger’s Market and Violence (2024) delves into the coercive and impersonal aspects of capital’s market dominance.

This seminar aims to critically and comparatively analyse the perspectives advanced by recent debates in Marxist political theory during the post-pandemic period, focusing on the social ontology of capital. It will explore the significant contributions of these new theoretical developments in rethinking the implications of capital’s impersonal and global domination, ultimately informing the strategic proposals for the proletariat and broader Marxist praxis.

Free to attend, all welcome. 6.30pm for a 7pm start.