The Sawyer Seminar on Capitalism in Crisis, Capitalism in Transition (aka Capitalism in the 21st Century) is an interdisciplinary seminar focused on multiple dimensions of contemporary capitalism. The seminar was funded by the Mellon Foundation and co-organized by Professor Beverly J. Silver from the Department of Sociology and Professor Christopher Nealon from the Department of English.

The seminar was a two year process (2012-2013 and 2013-2014), which included visits by external speakers from the humanities and social sciences from all major world regions. Faculty members, graduate students, and visiting post-doctoral fellows from across the social sciences and humanities participated in the seminar. In addition to external speakers, the seminar schedule also included reading group sessions discussing works relevant to the themes of the seminar.

The Sawyer Seminar doubled as the General Seminar for the Arrighi Center in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014.