On the occasion of the launch of Catherine Liu's new book (Verso, 2026), this colloquium brings together researchers whose current work engages with the themes of capitalism, care, trauma and class - approached from the intersecting perspectives of critical theory, psychoanalysis and social reproduction theory.

The event, co-organised by the Institute of Philosophical Studies, the Centre for Social Studies and the Portuguese Political Economy Association, takes place at a moment when the political stakes of these questions feel particularly urgent: as welfare states retrench, affective labour is increasingly commodified, and the language of trauma migrates from the clinic into public discourse, questions of who cares, who suffers, and whose suffering counts have become central sites of theoretical and political contestation. This colloquium aims to think through these tensions collectively, across disciplinary and geographic boundaries.
 

Organisers: Bernardo Ferro, Jonas Van Vossole, Bruno Padilha, Marcela Uchôa