Late-Stage Capitalism? Accumulation in the Ruins

A panel celebrating the 2026 edition of Socialist Register

The newly published 2026 volume of Socialist Register – entitled “Late-Stage Capitalism? Accumulation in the Ruins” – interrogates anew the notion that global capitalism is in its end time (a recurring theme among Marxists since 1848). At the heart of this concept are indications that capital accumulation is running up against some inherent limits. just as the hucksters of private capital are crowing that so-called Artificial Intelligence will usher in a capitalist utopia of unlimited prosperity (for whom?). Socialists warn the world’s working classes to prepare instead for a late-capitalist dystopia, characterized by irreversible damage to the natural environment, wars brought on by new modes of global competition among capitals, and the inevitable squeeze on capitalist profits and human labor if robotic production alters the organic composition of capital to the extent predicted by the AI boosters. Based on their essays in the 2026 Socialist Register, our panelists speak to the utility of the concept of “late-stage capitalism,” both for understanding contemporary political economy and for devising strategies for the working class to defend itself and advance a universalist vision of human emancipation.