Emma Gustavsson

Emma Gustavsson is a writer and non-funded researcher working at the intersection of value-form theory, critical theory, and the history of political thought, with particular attention to the Frankfurt School, the Neue Marx-Lektüre, and heterodox Marxist lineages in Italy, Germany, and Russia. Her current research critiques the “republican turn” in recent Marxist scholarship on communist freedom, arguing for a negative, non-affirmative conception of freedom grounded in Marx’s critique of political economy and Adorno’s negative dialectics. She serves on the editorial board of Tidskriften Ordning and publishes across academic and public venues in both Swedish and English. She is completing a double BA in Philosophy and History at Södertörn University and is preparing doctoral applications for fall 2027.

Tidskriften Ordning — Editorial Board Member, Contributor, Type-Setter & Designer
March 2026 – Present

• Serve on the editorial board, contributing to editorial direction and content selection.
• Author of essays on the logic of capital, the historical method of Marx’s Capital, and the political economy of violence and coercion.
• Responsible for type-setting, layout design, and website design for the publication.

Independent Researcher — Marxist Political Economy & Critical Theory
May 2026 – Present

• Conduct independent, non-funded research on value-form theory, critical theory, and the history of political thought, publishing across academic and public venues including Tidskriften Manifest, Tidskriften Ordning, Parabol Press, and Clarté.
• Developing a critique of the “republican turn” in contemporary Marxist scholarship on communist freedom, arguing—via a reading of Marx’s critique of bourgeois freedom through Adorno’s determinate negation—for the nonidentity of freedom rather than a positive, affirmative theory of communist freedom.
• Selected to present this research at the Selskab for Marxistiske Studier (SMS) Conference, Copenhagen (October 2026).

Södertörn University — BA, Philosophy and History (Double Degree)
September 2024 – June 2027 (expected)

• Coursework and independent study spanning the history of political thought, Hegel and German Idealism, the Frankfurt School, and Marxist theory of value.
• Preparing doctoral applications for autumn 2027 or 2028 in philosophy / history of ideas, with a focus on value-form theory and critical theory.

Non-Academic Publications

• “Vad är en osåld banan värd?” — Parabol Press
• “Varför ‘Kapitalet’ inte är ett historiskt verk” — Tidskriften Ordning

Conference Papers

• Paper on Marx, freedom, and the critique of republican readings of communism — Selskab for Marxistiske Studier (SMS) Conference, Copenhagen (October 2026)

Areas of Expertise
Political Economy · Marxist Theory · Critical Theory · Value-Form Theory

Languages

• English — Native/Bilingual
• Swedish — Native/Bilingual
• German — Limited Working Proficiency