Interview with Shi Yongqin: Leon Trotsky was a Milestone Figure in the Development of Marxism
This interview with Shi Yongqin was originally commissioned by Mr. Shen Wentao for Wenyi Yanjiu (文艺研究Literary Research) (monthly) but, for some reason, the journal did not publish it. Wenyi Yanjiu was founded in May 1979. It is a large comprehensive literary theory journal supervised by the Ministry of Culture and hosted by the Chinese Academy of Arts. It is one of the important contemporary literary theory journals in China and has a significant influence in the domestic academic community.
Alienation, Eroticism, and Utopia: An Interview with Alan Sears
At a time when the lives of trans people, migrant workers, and women, amongst others, are threatened by the far Right, it is important to engage with the demands and analyses of these groups, both on their own terms and as part of the broader struggle against the relations of capital. This necessitates an expansive definition of capitalist alienation, which extends beyond the point of production and penetrates every facet of our lives. Alan Sears’ new book Eros and Alienation brings together the Marxist theory of alienation and queer theory and argues that the alienation of labour has subordinated our creative, life-making activity to the production of capitalist profit, including the ways that we experience gender and sexuality. But this process is never total, and the potential for the realisation of our capacity for human flourishing is expressed in various ways, exemplified in queer forms of community and struggle that defend and create the possibility of a different future. In the conversation that follows, Alan discusses themes from his new book, including an expansive conception of alienation, the role of the erotic in overcoming capitalist alienation, and the utopian vision of the future.
A thank you note from the organisers of the 2025 Historical Materialism London Conference
A huge thanks to all the participants in the 2025 Historical Materialism London conference. The conference was a huge success with 1,043 presentations and over 1,400 participants. The biggest Historical Materialism London Conference ever!
Important Information/Updates/Amendments – HM2025
Programme Amendments
Council Communists Meet Philosophers from Heidelberg – The Pre-History of Critical Theory in 1920s Germany
In the Twilight. Studies on the Pre- and Early History of Critical Theory) by Christian Voller, Matthes & Seitz, 2022, 414 pages, German.
Materialism and the Legal Form
Sonja Buckel, Subjectivation and Cohesion, trans. Monika Vykoukal (Brill, 2021)
The USSR Home Front and World War II
Wendy Z. Goldman and Donald Filtzer (eds.), Hunger and War. Food Provisioning in the Soviet Union during World War II, Bloomington Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2015
Geert Reuten: a fond recollection
On 29 July, Geert Reuten passed away after a short illness with liver cancer. Geert was the youngest of twelve children and belonged to a prominent Catholic family. His grandfather, textile manufacturer Vincent van den Heuvel, had for many years been a member of parliament for the Catholic Party and played an important role in the establishment of the Boerenleenbank (now Rabobank). Geert himself would become the radical outlier of the family.
R.I.P. Geert Reuten (1946-2025)
The Historical Materialism journal and book series editorial boards are very sad to announce the death of Geert Reuten due to cancer.
Statement by the Editorial Board of Historical Materialism
As the editorial board of Historical Materialism, we would like to express our condemnation, indignation and anger regarding the unprecedented forms of censorship and ideological silencing with which the Historical Materialism Paris Conference had to deal.
