Profile

Biography

Werner Bonefeld studied at the University of Marburg, the Free University of Berlin and the University of Edinburgh where he received his doctorate. Before coming to York he taught at the Universities of Frankfurt and Edinburgh. More recently he conducted post-graduate seminars on critical theory and the critique of political economy at the Universities of Puebla and Buenos Aires. His work contributed to the development of the internationally recognised Open Marxism school. Werner Bonefeld is a member of the Conference of Socialist Economists, and with Hugo Radice, Greig Charnock and Stuart Shields, he organised the Leeds/Manchester/York working group on critical IPE. He is a keen gardener, cycles to work, and listens to Captain Beefheart and So-Called.

Research

Overview

Werner Bonefeld is interested in research students on topics in critical theory, critical political economy and political sociology, including state theory, global political economy, Marx and Marxism, and the Frankfurt School.

Current projects

Werner Bonefeld is currently working on Adorno's critical theory, and the German ordo-liberal tradition. He is currently in receipt of an ESRC grant to explore the ordo-liberal roots of contemporary neo-liberalism.

Supervision

• Globalisation and the Transformation of the German Model
• European Union and the Crisis of the Growth and Stability Pact
• The critical theory of Castoriadis, Papaioannou and Axelos
• Globalisation and the crisis of the Korean state
• From Dictatorship to Democracy: state and economy in Turkey
• Thailand and the Politics of Social Forces: A Neo-Gramscian Account
• Transforming China: Smith and Marx in Beijing

Publications

Selected publications

(2010), 'Free Economy and the Strong State', Capital and Class, vol. 34 no. 1.

(2010), 'History and Human Emancipation', Critique, vol. 38, no. 1.

(2010), 'Abstract Labour: Against its Nature and on its Time', Capital & Class, vol. 34, no. 2.

(2010), 'Sobre el tiempo del trabajo abstracto', Herramienta,, no. 44, pp. 17-28 (in Spanish).

(2010), 'Dignidad versus respetabilidad? Marx y la ciencia' in J. Holloway, F. Matamoros, and S. Tischler (eds.) Pensar a contrapelo, Herramienta, Buenos Aires and  University of Puebla, Puebla.

(2010), 'Democracy and Dictatorship', Marxism 21, published by Institute for Social Sciences, Gyeongsang National University and Korea Research Foundation, vol. 7.

(2009), 'Society and Nature', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, vol. 11, no. 2.

(2009), 'Notes on Movement and Uncertainty', in Przegladu, no. 9 (in Polish).

(2009), 'Emancipatory Practice and Conceptuality in Adorno', in Holloway, J., Matamoros, F. and S. Tischler., Negativity and Revolution, Pluto Press, London.

(2009), 'Naturalisation versus Critique of Economic Categories', Critique, vol. 37, no. 2.

Teaching

Undergraduate

Werner Bonefeld lectures on German Politics in the First Year Module Introduction to Democratic Politics.

His option modules include:

• Karl Marx

Postgraduate

• Critical Theories of International Political Economy