The oligarchs are back. Following the most recent U.S. election and the growing political involvement of tech entrepreneurs, the concept of oligarchy has once again become a topic of public debate. For a long time, the term was primarily associated with the post-socialist transformations of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Today, however, oligarchic power increasingly appears as a distinctly Western, technology-driven phenomenon operating at the centre of political and economic life, not merely behind the scenes.

Despite the term’s renewed prominence, the conceptual and historical dimensions of oligarchy remain surprisingly underexplored. As the first event in a series dedicated to this subject, our workshop will adopt an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to examine the historical trajectories and conceptual foundations of oligarchic rule and power. How does oligarchy relate to democracy and state-building, imperialism and decolonisation, late capitalism, accelerationism or extractivism? What kinds of social structures and institutions are produced by oligarchic forms of power? Can societies or social norms themselves be described as oligarchic?

The workshop will be accompanied by a public evening event. Andreas Kalyvas from the New School for Social Research in New York will be in conversation with Andrea Binder about how the “oligarchic imaginary” is shaped by liberal market logics.

A cooperation between the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) and the Leibniz Center for Literary and Cultural Research (ZfL).

Registration and Admission

Admission is free; registration is not required.

Eventlocation

Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Ilse-Zimmermann-Saal
Pariser Straße 1
10719 Berlin