We are pleased to announce the International Conference: “From Marx to Hegel and Back to the Future”, which will be held at the Goethe-Institut of Stockholm, on February 25-27, 2016.

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In the face of the global financial crisis, growing social inequalities, and a resurrection of political struggles and social movements, we have witnessed a wide-ranging revival of interest in Marxist thought. But to which Marx should we return? Our suggestion is the: Hegelian Marx. Hegel’s social and political philosophy, with its focus on recognition, desire, alienation, social freedom, and its critique of liberalism, was crucial to Marx. In an attempt to explore and revitalize the Hegelian foundations of Marx’s thinking we return to some key questions: was Marx Hegel’s most important and merciless critic? At what points was Marx more Hegelian than he realized himself? In exploring the Hegelian foundations of Marx’s thinking we also have to ask ourselves: which Hegel? How can we re-read Hegel in ways that were opened up by Marx? It is not only the writings of Hegel and Marx that have been highlighted in new ways during the last decades. We have also seen a resurgence of the tradition of Hegelian Marxism. It is worth investigating how Hegel’s philosophy has been used by Marxist theorists during the past century, from Georg Lukács to Slavoj Žižek. All these different perspectives are united in their effort to articulate a thinking that ‘comprehends its own time in thought’ (Hegel); but that also, in reflecting on its own time, can contribute to changing it.

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