Live in Melbourne
Underground Philosophy is where thought comes to life. Here we resist the pull of algorithms and ideology. When you come to Underground Philosophy, you don’t come for the names alone, but to connect and participate in thinking you can feel.
Underground Philosophy returns to The Castle in June.
You are invited to dinner and conversation at The Castle (pictured above.) Here we integrate periods of participation as well as shared attention / audience time, making room for dialogue and talks on stage.
The topic for our second Underground Philosophy in 2025 is Technofeudalism.
“Capitalism is dead. Now we have something much worse.” - Yanis Varoufakis
Join us for a powerful evening of Underground Philosophy as we relate with the provocative concept of Technofeudalism, a lens for understanding the evolving power dynamics of our digital age. Popularized by economist Yanis Varoufakis, technofeudalism describes a world where tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Meta act as digital overlords, extracting "rent" from users’ data and attention, replacing capitalism’s markets and profits with platform dominance and behavioural control.
But to understand the implications of technofeudalism more comprehensively, we need to integrate more than Varoufakis’ focus on economics and power—crucial though it is. We also need to understand how power and technology are effecting changes to our social and moral imaginations, our relation to value, and indeed our very contexts for belonging with each other and the world.
What creative potential can we discern in our own lives and relations that can support a meaningful, empowered response?
In addition to Varoufakis’ Technofedualism, similar themes are explored in books like Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, David J. Temple’s First Principles and First Values, and Cédric Durand’s How Silicon Valley Unleashed Techno-Feudalism.
Runtime
6.00 - Doors
6.30 - Opening Address, Invitations & Provocations (Audience & Stage)
7.00 - Dinner & Conversation (Participation)
8.15 - Emergent Dialogue (Audience + Participation)
9.30 - Light Close --> Transition to Speakeasy
10.30 - Final Close
WHERE & WHEN
THURSDAY 8th MAY. 6.30-9.30pm
The Castle Hotel - Upstairs
North Melbourne
Underground Philosophy is where thought comes to life.
Here we resist the pull of algorithms and ideology. When you come to Underground Philosophy, you don’t come for the names alone, but to connect and participate in thinking you can feel.