'Late-stage capitalism,' as conceived through the lens of Bayo Akomolafe's profound reflections, encapsulates the epoch where capitalism, with its voracious appetite for growth and exploitation, reveals its limits and unsustainable nature. It is a phase where the contradictions of endless consumption, environmental degradation, and social inequity become painfully apparent, unfurling a tapestry of crises that beckons a radical reimagining of human existence and relationality. This term signals not merely an economic structure but an ontological crisis—a call to question the very foundations of our reality-making practices. Extending beyond the critique of capitalist mechanisms, it invites a deeper, soulful reckoning with our entanglement in the neoliberal project, urging a turn towards possibilities of care, reciprocity, and more-than-human collaborations. In the twilight of a faltering system, we are summoned to re-enchant the world, to dance with the uncertain, and to weave new patterns of survivance together.
See also: white supremacy, slave trade, climate justice, colonial order, nation state