This session examines the political and ecological contradictions of contemporary capitalism through lenses ranging from ESG investing and AI governance to far-right political legitimacy, academic freedom, and Marxian critiques of capitalist nature. Presenters engage with the scalar operations of finance, the politics of technology, and the shifting ideological and institutional structures that shape—and are shaped by—late capitalist systems. Together, the papers offer critical insights into the power dynamics, resistances, and uncertainties marking this political-economic moment.

• 8:30 AM
  A Tale of Three Rivers: Reflections on the scalar politics of ESG and the political ecology of the pension portfolio
  Jessica Parish, Carleton University

• 8:45 AM
  AI as Progress or Progress Trap?: A call for techno-progressive governance of emerging technologies
  Loch Brown, University of British Columbia

• 9:00 AM
  The rise of the far-right and the challenge of legitimacy in Canada
  Steven Tufts, York University

• 9:15 AM
  The Florida Future of the University
  Tyler McCreary, Florida State University

• 9:30 AM
  Theorizing Capitalist Nature: A Critique of “Worldview Marxism”
  Kyle Gibson, Yale-NUS College (National University of Singapore)

• 9:45 AM
  La grande transformation de Karl Polanyi 
  Steve Déry, Université Laval