The Capitalism Tribunal

Is capitalism a crime? The first Capitalism Tribunal tries the case of capitalism and its protagonists, their guilt or innocence. It constitutes a civil society hearing of Europe’s economy, its legal basis within the currently valid notion of order and the resulting economic normality, its effects on society, forthcoming generations and the future of the planet. The starting point is the recognition that the former state capitalism and the now globally dominant private capitalism are not opposites to which there is no alternative: History has not come to an end.

Since May 01, 2015, every living person worldwide has the right to submit a concrete indictment on the website capitalismtribunal.org. What is called for is not specialist legal knowledge or literary quality, but one’s own experience of economic reality. Permitted are e.g. indictments against events, legal persons (companies, state institutions), natural persons of public life or currently valid legal norms. In the Spring of 2016 the proceedings on the question of guilt or innocence will be held at the Capitalism Tribunal in Vienna in a fair, dialectical process.

During the Summit at the HKW the tribunal’s rules of procedure will be drawn up and the date of the Vienna proceedings announced. At the tribunal’s presentation, open to both the press and the general public , representatives from science, research and legal philosophy, will each formulate their own demand, drawn from their own experience, to be presented to the world community.

Participants at the Capitalism Tribunal’s three preliminary hearings at the Berlin theatre Heimathafen Neukölln were: Ulrich Brand, Trevor Evans, Alix Faßmann, Lili Fuhr, Florian Kröckel, Anne-Kathrin Krug, Mojib Latif, Anselm Lenz, Stephen Leonard, Volker Lösch, Graeme Maxton, Albrecht Müller, Hans-Peter Müller, Martin Nevoigt, Jörg Petzold, Lucy Redler, Hendrik Sodenkamp, Alexander Stefes, Fetewei Tarrekegn, Carolijn Terwindt, Ilija Trojanow, Via.

The tribunal’s partners are: The Club of Rome, Flux FM 100,6 Berlin, ORF FM4, agora42, Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Echte Demokratie Jetzt!, Heimathafen Neukölln, Edition Nautilus, brut Wien, Werk X, attac Austria. Conception, organisation and realisation: Haus Bartleby Berlin.

For more information see:
capitalismtribunal.org
hausbartleby.org
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