The idea of socialization is back on the political left. This is evidenced by the fact that, according to the organizers, 1,000 young and student listeners gathered in the lecture halls of the Technical University at the weekend to listen to the presentations at the socialization conference, which was held there under the motto “Strategies for a democratic economy”. The declared goal: a “nationwide socialization movement”. “For us, socialization is at the core of a new left-wing politics,” said a spokesperson for the organizing team right at the beginning.

A conference like this, which has a completely different horizon than the defense battles of the past decades, gives me hope. I think many people felt that way. But the quiet, realistic tones give me the most hope. […] If we are serious about socialization, we have to be honest about how much power we still have to build up and that democratization is not a sure-fire success. Capital will not simply allow its property to be taken away. The conference was a massive step forward for a socialization movement fighting against corporate power.

If the socialisation conference itself is to be seen as a manifestation of a post-capitalist society after the transformation, then it is professionally organized, ambitious in terms of content, politically radical and always appreciative of solidarity in a critical dialogue about its own practice. The conference took up central strands of debate in critical science and social movements that have contributed to a renewal of left-wing politics in recent years. Socialization as a focal point was broad and at the same time narrow enough to allow for three days of productive and solidary debate – which is probably one of the central dimensions of a democratized economy.

The Vergesellschaftungskonferenz 2022 provides one of those experiences that have been so rare in the German left in recent decades, the experience that a movement gives more strength than it costs.#vgk2022