Since the demise of state socialism in the late 1980s and early 1990s, global capitalism has changed its face and has developed with a dynamic unknown in previous decades. However, confronted with this dynamic of change, it seems that the social sciences have not adapted their analytical toolkit and are mostly operating with much the same categories as they did twenty years ago. The much questioned, but still dominant “methodological nationalism” may be the most prominent example of social sciences sticking to the concepts, categories, and perspectives developed in the course of post-WWII history – however, it is not the only case in point. Bringing together scholars from sociology, political science, economics, history, and literary studies, the conference aims at a critical reflection on and a collaborative revision of the analytical apparatus for the study of global capitalism in the 21st century.