CENTENARIES Rosa Luxemburg the Paris Commune Aspects Of

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

CENTENARIES Rosa Luxemburg the Paris Commune Aspects Of CENTENARIES Mike Faulkner on Rosa Luxemburg V Penn on The Paris Commune Mike Cooley on Aspects of Technological Change (PARr rwo) Wages & Inflation Number Seventeen Price lOp FROM THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE We are pleased to announce that, in spite of rapidly increasing costs. we are able, due to new production methods. to maintain the price of this Journal at its current level of 10p. Original subscribers will recall that the price of the initial copies in the period 1966- 1967 was 2/6d. We hope that the new production will not compare unfavourably with our previous technical standard. An increase in our circulation will enable us to maintain our present price stability for a longer period in an inflationary economic situation. In the widening arena of struggle against capitalism we believe The Marxist serves the interests of the revolutionary forces in Britain and has a part to play in the development of a Marxist-Leninist party. 'Jf you share our view. you can assist us in the following ways: (a) Introduce new subscribers to the journal (b) Sell The Marxist. (Up to fifteen copies sent on Sale-or-Return terms) (c) Send a donation. Cheques and Postal Orders to be made payable to The Oasis Publishing Company. Subscriptions, requests for Sale-or-Return copies, donations, etc. send to: Tom Hill, 11 Barratt Avenue, Wood Green, LONDON. N.22. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Mike Cooley Jim Kean Mike Faulkner Colin Penn Tom Hill '"Re9 Wagland Frank Huscroft Subscriptions Surface mail (unsealed). All countrie.s '1~... (Six issues) Single copies 15p post paid. " COMMINT firms. It is equally well known that our Rising Unemployment counterparts in other countries are being fed on the same diet. The ruling class are showing their skill by refusing to be put on the defensive by Productivity Oeals the growing unemployment . They are not resting content with the belief that higher Whilst it is true that Productivity Deals une~loyment will auto~atically reduce the do not cause une~ployment, they hasten its value of wage settlements but are seizing growth and help to create the frame of mind the opportunity to wage a battle of ideas which accepts unemployment as being due to to convince the working class that the inefficiency and the growth in wages out­ growth of unemployment is their fault for stripping the rise in productivity. being too greedy. The obvious development of this argument is that a wage freeze if Increases in productivity have been prob­ necessary in order to safeguard jobs and ably the highest in Electrcity Generating, a further development at a later stage in Steel making and Chemicals with the result which tne same argu~ent is used for an that the numbers employed in these industr­ actual reduction in wages. ies has fallen considerably over the past ten years or so. In Steel alone it is The Labour leaders are doing thei r best forecast that there will be 40,000 less to make capital out of the widespread feel~ jobs in 1975 than in 1967. 9,000 have al­ ing that the Tories are the Party of unemp­ ready disappeared and 11,000 more are due loyment. If we get taken in by this we to vanish in the next twelve months. will soon find ourselves back on the round­ Towns like Irlam will be transformed almost about pf 'fighting for the return of a Labour overnight from comparative affluence to Government.• distressed areas, already hard hit areas like Teeside will .be pushed further into The basic fact is that the current devel­ poverty. oping crisis of world capitalism has very little to do with the level of wage settle­ A sidelight on the question of unemploy­ ments or even wage levels. In France, It­ ment was notable in the radio programme aly ana·even Weit Germany and Sweden the nAny Questions• in which Calla9han, fo~mer sa~e problems are being thrown up and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made the state saMe remedies advoeated. Those of us who -ment that unemployment can be controlled work in industries or firms geared to ex~ by Government action. This view was oppos­ ports are so often told that the kind of ed· by a Tory member of the team but unfort­ wage increases that we are demanding will unately no one asked why unemployment was render 'us' unable to compete with foreign allowed to rise to over 500,000 under the I abour Government whir.h was suppQsed to worker) large sums of money they wo~ld get. favour full employment. In these circumstances it i s very '~iffi The fact is, as Marx stated ov~~ a hun­ cult to get united mass action to ff~ht dred years ago, capitalism needs a reserve redundancy because, apart from the inherent army of unemployed in order that the sys­ difficulty of fighting on such an issue , tem shall run "efficiently". there is the additional factor that whilst some prefer to take the money in preference The sole argument between Tory and Lab­ to fighting, others hesitate to fight for our on this question is simply about what fear of losing any redundancy pay to which constitutes full employment. In the years they would be entitled. immediately following the 1939-45 war no politician dared openly question that full Action in individual factories against employment meant exactly what it said. specific cases of redundancy may or may Gradually the terms "over employment" and not be successful , depending on the local "acceptable levels of unemployment" have circumstances but if conducted on a •broad• been. introduced until now the uargumentu is enough scale and accompanied by a Marxist over what constitutes "excess" unemployment . explanation of why capitalism must have an army of unemployed as a condition of sur The Actuaries of the National Insurance vival, then a start will be made on :re Scheme have stated that their calculations ating a public opinion which will challenge for the next three years have been made on the ruling class on this issue. the basis of a Government assessment of 660 ,000 unemployed. After the Bill This clearly shows that the "acceptable" In spite of one of the. biggest str&et or to put it more correctly, the necessary demonstrations in recent years and stti~s level of unemployment is increasing from by over one million engineering workers it year to year. is evident that the Bill is go1ng through without any significant change for the bet The ruling class foresaw this develop­ ter. ment and introduced the Redundancy Payments Act. This was hailed as a Workers• Charter On the Sunday demonstrati on ,alled b1 the but in practice it proved to be just one T.U.C. and those connected with the one more example of how the British ruling day token strikes, one could hear ~u h re ­ class know how to make concessions in order marks as "after this the Tories will have to divide the opposition. There is no to reconsider their atti tude 11 To que.st doubt that resistance to closures and re­ ion this was, in the main , regarded as ~r­ dundancies would have been much greater had etical and defeatist. it not been for the operation of this Act. There have been many cases of workers Basically, this attitude is a refle tion with long years of employment with one of the still strong influence of reform1sm company actually volunteering to be put on ov-er the working class. It is the belief the redundancy list because of the (for a that, in spite of everything, the ruling 2 ··-~ class will bow to mass pressure and re­ the political understanding of those invol­ frain from becoming more reactionary. How ved in the struggle, it resorted to "scare" else can one explain the underlying supp­ tactics to get people to take action. By osition that whatever changes are taking this we mean that C.P. members of our acqu­ place in the economic and political situa­ aintance (and we believe this was wide­ tion of the ruling class, the trade union spread), tried to get workers to move into movement can still continue in much the action on the basis of such slogans as 1The same way (mergers, etc . notwithstanding). Bill will put us back a hundred years•, "Without the trades unions the working class The point is that the deepening crisis is is defenceless", thus giving the impression compelling the ruling class to revise its that the pass1ng of the Bill would be an act attitude towards all the political, econom­ from which the working class could not re­ ic and social institutions now in existence. cover or fight against until its repeal by They may still have room for maneouvre so the "democratic process'. that they can make tactical changes when faced with uncomfortably strong opposition, We do not consider this to be accidental; but the main objectives will not and can­ how better to assist the return of a Labour not be changed. majority to Parliament, along with some Communist M.P .s so that a "Left 1 Labour A fact of life Government can be formed in line with the policy advocated in 'The British Road to This is a fact of life that needs to be Socialism" . understood if there is to be any advance towards building a revolutionary move~ent . The alliance between the C.P . and the Trotskyists is also not accidental or tact­ The role of the Labour Party, C.P .G. B., ical, it flows from the same basic policy Trotskyists and most trade union leaders has of •pushing the Labour Party to the left been to direct attention away from this and and forming a new left Labour Government".
Recommended publications
  • 1 Through Rosa-Colored Glasses: Rosa Luxemburg As
    THROUGH ROSA-COLORED GLASSES: ROSA LUXEMBURG AS A FEMINIST ICON By JANET MELISSA ROBY A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2012 1 © 2012 Janet Melissa Roby 2 To My Parents 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this thesis would have been unimaginable without the support of the following people. First and foremost, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my extraordinary committee members, Dr. Peter Bergmann, Dr. Alice Freifeld, and Dr. Sheryl Kroen, for the countless ways in which they have assisted me throughout my graduate studies and for never once doubting my capabilities, when facing both the normal setbacks of graduate study as well as the personal challenges of chronic illness. Dr. Bergmann and Dr. Freifeld have always encouraged me to pursue my interdisciplinary interests, on which this project is based. I am also particularly grateful for the unwavering support of Dr. Kroen, who originally suggested that I look into the work of Rosa Luxemburg. I am also grateful for the guidance and support of Dr. Stuart Finkel. Although his influence cannot be clearly felt in this particular research project, he has played an important role in my intellectual development. Last but not least, I would like to extend my thanks to my family and friends. I remain grateful to my wonderful parents for their support of all my efforts, scholarly and otherwise. I also wish to thank Toby Shorey for friendship beyond measure. Our conversations have guided my thinking and therefore this thesis in many interesting ways.
    [Show full text]
  • Narratives of Self and Captivity by Women Political Prisoners in Germany 1915-1991
    1 Re-capturing the Self: Narratives of Self and Captivity by Women Political Prisoners in Germany 1915-1991 Kim T. Richmond PhD, German Studies The University of Edinburgh 2010 2 My signature certifies that this thesis represents my own original work, the result of my own original research, and that it has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification except as specified. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council for funding this project as well as a research trip to Berlin in the summer of 2008. My thanks also go to those who assisted me in my research: Annelies Laschitza, Christoph Rinser, the Bundesarchiv Berlin, Jürgen Ritter, Thomas Gaevert, Elisabeth Graul, the staff at Hohenschönhausen prison and the employees at the Stollberg Stadtsbibliothek, all of whom provided valuable knowledge. The staff at the German Department of Edinburgh University have been enthusiastic and supportive throughout the project and have always been ready to listen and to give advice. In particular I would like to thank Bill Webster for his support during my first year and my supervisor Sarah Colvin, for her guidance, insight and enthusiasm throughout the breadth of the thesis. I have received much support from my friends and family, for which I am extremely grateful. In particular, I’d like to thank Fiona, Ana and Neil. I wish to dedicate this thesis to Hilary and Rosy. 4 Abstract Re-capturing the Self: Narratives of Self and Captivity by Women Political Prisoners in Germany 1915-1991 This project represents one of the few major pieces of research into women’s narratives of political incarceration and is an examination of first person accounts written against a backdrop of significant historical events in twentieth-century Germany.
    [Show full text]
  • Red Rosa: an Intimate Self-Portrait
    Red Rosa: An Intimate Self- Portrait THE LETTERS OF ROSA LUXEMBURG is the first volume in a projected 14-volume set, The Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg, of all the extant writings of this great revolutionary socialist in English—all available newspaper articles and speeches, significant polemical and Marxist theoretical writings, and her letters and telegrams, prepared collaboratively by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Karl Dietz Veralg, and Verso Books. The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg contains 230 letters by Luxemburg to 46 different people, and is an English translation by George Shriver of the original German text of 1990, Herzlichst, Ihre Rosa (literal translation, Warmly from the Heart, Yours, Rosa). The first letter is to her friends in Zurich, Nadina and Boris Krichevsky, in Zurich, dated July 17, 1891 (when Luxemburg was only 20 years old, yet already active in the socialist movement); and the last letter, dated January 11, 1919, is to her friend and comrade Clara Zetkin in Stuttgart, four days before her murder by the proto-fascist Freikorps in collusion with the right-wing Social-Democratic government of Germany headed by Philip Scheidemann and Friedrich Ebert, two leaders of the Social-Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who had supported World War I. The significance of Rosa Luxemburg’s quite extensive and active correspondence over these years is emphasized well by one of the general editors of the editorial board preparing the Complete Works, Peter Hudis. He writes at the beginning of The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg, in his "Introduction: Rediscovering Rosa Luxemburg" (pp. VII-XI): To get to know Rosa Luxemburg’s thought is to get to know a way of seeing the world, and it is not truly possible to grasp that if one lacks access to what is found in her correspondence.
    [Show full text]
  • Socialism Or Barbarism : the Selected Writings of Rosa Luxemburg
    Socialism or Barbarism Luxemburg T02024 00 pre 1 30/07/2010 12:39 GETwww.plutobooks.com P LITICAL 1 The Communist Manifesto Marx+Engels Introduction by David Harvey 9780745328461 2 Revolution, Democracy, Socialism Lenin Edited by Paul Le Blanc 9780745327600 3 Catching History On The Wing Sivanandan Foreword by Colin Prescod 9780745328348 4 Black Skin, White Masks Fanon Forewords by Homi K. Bhabha and Ziauddin Sardar 9780745328485 5 Shahak Jewish History, Jewish Religion Forewords by Pappe / Mezvinsky/ Said / Vidal 9780745328409 6 Theatre of the Oppressed boal 9780745328386 7 Staying Power fryer Introduction by Paul Gilroy 9780745330723 8 Change the World Without Taking Power holloway 9780745329185 9 Socialism or Barbarism luxemburg Edited by Paul Le Blanc and Helen C. Scott 9780745329888 Luxemburg T02024 00 pre 2 30/07/2010 12:39 socialism or barbarismSelected Writings ROSA LUXEMBURG Edited and with an introduction by Paul Le Blanc and Helen C. Scott Luxemburg T02024 00 pre 3 30/07/2010 12:39 This edition first published 2010 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 www.plutobooks.com Distributed in the United States of America exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St Martins Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 This edition copyright © Paul Le Blanc and Helen C. Scott 2010 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7453 2989 5 Hardback ISBN 978 0 7453 2988 8 Paperback Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.
    [Show full text]
  • The International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online
    THE INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER OF COMMUNIST STUDIES ONLINE. Der Internationale Newsletter der Kommunismusforschung. La newsletter internationale des recherches sur le communisme. Международный бюллетень исторических исследований коммунизма. VOL. XIV (2008), NO 21. Edited by Bernhard H. Bayerlein. Published by The European Workshop of Communist Studies. With support of The Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim, Germany. ISSN 1862-698X. ISSN Y503-1060 (for the Print Edition). The International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online XIV (2008), no 21 2 Executive Editor: Bernhard H. Bayerlein, Mannheim/Cologne. Assistant Editor: Gleb Albert, Mannheim/Cologne. Editorial Board/Correspondents: Aldo Agosti (Torino) [email protected], Leonid Babicenko (Moscow), Claus Baumgart (Leipzig) [email protected], Lars Björlin (Stockholm) [email protected], Cosroe Chaqueri (Paris) [email protected], Sonia Combe (Paris) [email protected], Putnik Dajic (Belgrade) [email protected], Gérard Donzé (La Chaux-de-Fonds) [email protected], Jean-François Fayet (Geneva) [email protected], Jan Foitzik (Berlin) [email protected], José Gotovitch (Bruxelles) [email protected], Sobhanlal Datta Gupta (Calcutta) [email protected], Gabriella Hauch (Linz) [email protected], John Haynes (Washington) [email protected], Victor Heifets (St. Petersburg) [email protected], Gerd-Rainer Horn (Coventry) [email protected], Peter Huber (Geneva) [email protected], Fritz Keller (Vienna)
    [Show full text]
  • Left Pamphlet Collection
    University of Sheffield Library. Special Collections and Archives Ref: Special Collection Title: Left Pamphlet Collection Scope: A collection of printed pamphlets relating to left-wing politics mainly in the 20th century Dates: 1900- Extent: over 1000 items Name of creator: University of Sheffield Library Administrative / biographical history: The collection consists of pamphlets relating to left-wing political, social and economic issues, mainly of the twentieth century. A great deal of such material exists from many sources but, as such publications are necessarily ephemeral in nature, and often produced in order to address a particular issue of the moment without any thought of their potential historical value (many are undated), they are frequently scarce, and holding them in the form of a special collection is a means of ensuring their preservation. The collection is ad hoc, and is not intended to be comprehensive. At the end of the twentieth century, which was a period of unprecedented conflict and political and economic change around the globe, it can be seen that (as with Fascism) while the more extreme totalitarian Socialist theories based on Marxist ideology have largely failed in practice, despite for many decades posing a revolutionary threat to Western liberal democracy, many of the reforms advocated by democratic Socialism have been to a degree achieved. For many decades this outcome was by no means assured, and the process by which it came about is a matter of historical significance which ephemeral publications can help to illustrate. The collection includes material issued from many different sources, both collective and individual, of widely divergent viewpoints and covering an extensive variety of topics.
    [Show full text]
  • A Small Town in Germany: Leah Goldberg and German Orientalism in 1932 YFAAT WEISS
    T HE J EWISH Q UARTERLY R EVIEW, Vol. 99, No. 2 (Spring 2009) 200–229 A Small Town in Germany: Leah Goldberg and German Orientalism in 1932 YFAAT WEISS T HE NEED TO INTRODUCE Leah Goldberg in a scholarly article em- bodies a paradox: while Goldberg was and still is one of the best-known literary figures in Israel, she is virtually unknown beyond the boundaries of the Hebrew language, which she consciously chose as her creative language in her early teens. Goldberg is known mainly from her poetry. Her first anthology Tabe‘ot ashan (Smoke Rings) was published in Tel Aviv in 1935, just one month after her immigration to Palestine. Earlier, toward the end of the 1920s, Goldberg, whose mother tongue was Rus- sian, had published some poems in Hebrew-language journals in her hometown of Kovno in Lithuania. During her lifetime she published some seven hundred poems, many of which were set to music, and these songs served to popularize her work among a wide audience. Goldberg’s chil- dren’s books are likewise very well known in Israel. The tens of her chil- dren’s books and hundreds of poems and songs are to this day widely acclaimed in the local culture. Less well known than her poetry and children’s literature is Goldberg’s prose, which displays clearly autobiographical strands. The epistolary novel Mikhtavim mi-nesi‘ah medumah (Letters from an Imaginary Jour- ney), her farewell to Europe published in 1937 to which we will return below, received tepid reviews at the time and Goldberg sought to dis- patch it into oblivion.
    [Show full text]
  • 'You Alone Will Make Our Family's Name Famous'
    } Rory Castle ‘You alone will make our family’s name famous’ Rosa Luxemburg, Her Family and the Origins of her Polish-Jewish Identity* The article explores Rosa Luxemburg’s background, youth and family and their influence on her Polish and Jewish identities, as well as on her views on the Polish and Jewish Questions. It examines the views of Luxemburg’s father and grandfather, as well as other relatives, in order to understand the origins of her own ideas about Jewish assimilation, Polish nationalism and other subjects. Addressing the lack of scholarship on this subject by Luxemburg’s biographers, the article uses recent studies, newly available archival material and extensive interviews with members of the Luxemburg family to offer a new interpretation of the origins of Rosa Luxemburg’s Polish-Jewish identity. Key Words: Rosa Luxemburg, Family, Jewish Identity, Polish Identity, Zamość, Warsaw * I am grateful to Mr Nicholas E. Luxemburg, Ms. Marie-Louise Luxemburg, Mr Nicholas Luxemburg, Ms. Marina Liuksemburg and Mrs Elena Elsahev for their assistance in the research for this article. I am grateful to Mrs Olga Dyer for trans- lations from Russian. praktyka teoretyczna 6/2012 94 In a recent review, a leading historian of Poland has argued that the letters of Rosa Luxemburg ‘reveal that the argument about Polish inde- pendence was as much or more political, even personal, than it was economic and ideological’.1 While Luxemburg is remembered in Ger- many and elsewhere for her contribution to Marxist thought and for her role in the failed
    [Show full text]
  • No. 40, Summer, 1987
    NUMBER 40 . ENGLISH EDITION SUMMER 1987 75 CENTS/50 PENCE For International Class-Struggle Defense! _____ PAGE 2 _____ The American Question at the Fourth Congress of the Communist International _____ PAGE 20 _____ Revolution and Counterrevolution in Bolivia Reply to G. Lora, Parrot of Nationalism _____ PAGE 29 _____ . Gore Vidal: Bad Boy of the Bourgeoisie - ____ PAGE 48 _____ 2 SPARTACIST For International Class-Struggle Defense! "The movement for non-partisan, unified working The PDC is partisan: we stand unconditionally on the class defense is not only not confined to anyone side of working people and their allies in struggl~ against country, but is connected up in a strong ring of soli­ their exploiters and oppressors. In its partisanship, the darity which embraces the entire world. Wherever PDC is also anti-sectarian. We champion causes and de­ the class struggle rages, and the capitalist class takes fend cases whose victorious outcome is in the interest of its victims from among the workers and farmers, the working p-eople, irrespective of particular political views. movement for labor defense grows up out of the We place all our faith in the power of the masses and no struggle and into an arm for the masses. This move­ faith whatever in the "justice" of the courts. ment has already earned its place in the general We have called on labor to mobilize to defend their labor movement, and thruout the world it is joined brothers and sisters around the world. The PDC sought to up into the International Red Aid." mobilize the powerful International Longshoremen's -Labor Defender, July 1927 Association against the execution of African National Congress supporter Benjamin Moloise in 1985 and partici­ International working-class defense is the cornerstone of pated in an emergency demonstration to stop his execu­ the work of the Partisan Defense Committee (PDC), a tion by the racist apartheid butchers.
    [Show full text]
  • Weimar Communism As Mass Movement 1918–1933
    Weimar Communism as Mass Movement 1918–1933 Weimar Communism as Mass Movement 1918-1933 Edited by Ralf Hoff rogge and Norman LaPorte Part of the Studies in Twentieth Century Communism Series Series Editors: Norman LaPorte, Kevin Morgan and Matthew Worley Lawrence and Wishart London 2017 Lawrence and Wishart Limited Central Books Building Freshwater Road Chadwell Heath RM8 1RX © Lawrence & Wishart 2017 Individual articles © author Th e authors have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1998 to be identifi ed as the authors of this work. All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN 9781910448984 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Typesetting: e-type Cover design: Andrew Corbett Cover image: Bundesarchiv photo by Georg Pahl, 1 May 1930 Contents Acknowledgement vii Acronyms and abbreviations viii Timeline xi Note on organisation xix Note on ‘seizure of power’ xxi Ralf Hoff rogge and Norman LaPorte, Weimar Communism as Mass Movement: An Introduction 1 (I) Revolutionary Origins 1. Gerhard Engel, Th e International Communists of Germany, 1916-1919 25 2. Ottokar Luban, Th e Role of the Spartacist Group after 9 November 1918 and the Formation of the KPD 45 (II) Th e KPD between Revolution and Realpolitik 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Rosa Luxemburg and the Struggle for Democratic Renewal
    Rosa Luxemburg and the Struggle for Democratic Renewal Rosa Luxemburg and the Struggle for Democratic Renewal Jon Nixon First published 2018 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA www.plutobooks.com Copyright © Jon Nixon 2018 The right of Jon Nixon to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7453 3652 7 Hardback ISBN 978 0 7453 3647 3 Paperback ISBN 978 1 7868 0194 4 PDF eBook ISBN 978 1 7868 0228 6 Kindle eBook ISBN 978 1 7868 0227 9 EPUB eBook This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin. Typeset by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Simultaneously printed in the United Kingdom and United States of America for Pauline Contents Preface viii Acknowledgements xi A Note to the Reader xii PART I TAKING HISTORY AS IT COMES 1. The Long Apprenticeship 3 2. Entering History 34 PART II THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN 3. Political Struggle 65 4. Political Agency 85 5. Political Purpose 103 PART III THINKING DIFFERENTLY 6. History is Now 123 7. The Long Revolution 144 Coda: ‘I Was I Am I Shall Be’ 162 Glossary: Dates and Events, Organisations and People 165 Notes 176 References 177 Index 186 Preface There are many Rosa Luxemburgs: the legendary ‘Red Rosa’ of the barricades; the tragic victim of historical forces beyond her control; the closet anarchist who celebrated ‘spontaneity’ at the expense of organised action; the unwitting stooge of the Bolsheviks; the martyr to state violence and political opportunism; the apostate who dared to question the precepts of orthodox Marxism … But there is also the Rosa Luxemburg, who thought her way through one of the most critical periods of German history and for whom thinking formed the basis of political action.
    [Show full text]
  • Georg Adler, Peter Hudis, and Annalies Laschitza, Eds., the Letters of Rosa Luxemburg, Trans
    Georg Adler, Peter Hudis, and Annalies Laschitza, eds., The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg, trans. George Shriver (New York and London: Verso Books, 2011) Socialism and Democracy, No. 58 (2012) This is the first volume of a projected 14‐volume set, The Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg, comprising all of Luxemburg’s extant writings, prepared jointly by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Karl Dietz Verlag and Verso Books.1 It contains 230 letters by Luxemburg to 46 different people as well as 16 pages of photos, and is George Shriver’s translation of the 1990 German text, Herzlichst, Ihre Rosa (Warmly from the heart, Yours, Rosa). Annalies Laschitza’s Introduction gives detailed information on the correspondence, the history of its preservation during the Nazi occupation of Europe, and the important role played by publication of some of the letters in the renewed appreciation of Luxemburg, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. (Stalin had put her under a cloud for decades by labeling her a “semi‐Menshevik” and calling for a “struggle against Luxemburgism.”) Shriver’s “Translator’s Note” is useful, as are the glossary of names, lists of abbreviations and of contemporary periodicals, explanatory footnotes, and a reasonably thorough Index. Also of interest is a note listing the archival locations of the originals. The main thing I found lacking was a chronology of Luxemburg’s life, which would clarify the circumstances under which the letters were written (many were from prison). A detailed Table of Contents, listing each letter, would also have been helpful. Overall, however, Verso is to be congratulated for producing a splendid scholarly work.
    [Show full text]