At 15:30 on March 27, 2025, the 36th session of the “Marxism Forum” and the 35th session of the “Zhengsi Academic Forum,” jointly organized by the School of Marxism at Southeast University and the Institute for the Development of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics at Southeast University, was successfully held in Room 1601 of the New Liberal Arts Building, Jiulonghu Campus.
The lecture, themed “State, Capital, and Society,” featured Professor Werner Bonefeld, Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of York (UK), as the keynote speaker. Professor Liangbin Chen from the School of Marxism at Southeast University served as discussant, and the event was moderated by Associate Dean Shuo Chen. More than 40 faculty members and students attended the lecture.
At the beginning of the lecture, Professor Bonefeld elaborated on the shared insights of G. W. F. Hegel and Adam Smith regarding the relationship between capitalist society and the capitalist state. Both Hegel and Smith argued that, although the capitalist state is institutionally distinct from bourgeois society, it does not stand above society; rather, it emerges from society as an autonomous entity. On this basis, Professor Bonefeld pointed out that both thinkers emphasized the role of the capitalist state in addressing class conflicts within capitalist society.
He then provided a systematic account of three major theoretical variants within Marxist state theory, highlighting their different interpretations of the state, and offered a comparative analysis of the nature of the capitalist state. According to his analysis, the capitalist state functions as a political force that maintains social order and serves as a powerful guarantor of property rights.
Finally, drawing on an analysis of the relationships between the contemporary capitalist state and the world market, as well as between nation-states and the global market, Professor Bonefeld articulated a profound understanding of the capitalist state as “the concentrated force of bourgeois society.”
Following the lecture, Professor Liangbin Chen engaged in a dialogue with Professor Bonefeld on the theme of “State, Capital, and Society.” During the Q&A session, faculty members and students participated in in-depth discussions with the speaker on related issues. The lecture concluded successfully with warm applause from the audience.
Presenter Profile
Werner Bonefeld is Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of York (UK). He has previously taught at Goethe University Frankfurt and the University of Edinburgh. His research interests include critical theory, critical political economy, and political sociology.
He is co-editor of several major works, including The Oxford Handbook of Ordoliberalism (2022), Adorno and Marx (2022), and the three-volume Handbook of Frankfurt School Critical Theory (2018), as well as the Open Marxism series (1992-2019). His authored books include A Critical Theory of Economic Compulsion (2023), The Strong State and the Free Economy (2017), and Critical Theory and the Critique of Political Economy (2014).
He was a recipient of the Leverhulme Trust Fellowship (2016-2017) and has served as Principal Investigator of a Marie Curie research project.
