Reform & Revolution - studying Rosa Luxemburg

Rosa Luxemburg was a Polish revolutionary socialist, Marxist and anti-war activist. She was a central figure of European revolutionary socialist movements in the early 20th century. She made significant original contributions to socialist theory and knowledge, including being the first theorist to identify ideas that developed into concepts such as imperialism, globalisation and the military industrial complex.

Her writing was persuasive, accessible, principled, and often barbed, reflecting the passion she equally brought to her frontline presence of political activism.

This seven week course will examine Rosa Luxemburg’s contribution to socialist politics regarding economics, identity, militarism, strikes and revolution, as well as exploring the context of her life. Each week we will look at a selection of her writing, and reflect on how best we can utilise her ideas for today's struggles. All are welcome, regardless of previous knowledge of her work or wider socialist theory. -

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This event will focus on Luxemburg's ideas on Reform & Revolution.

Can we slowly tweak our way to socialism? Are reforms always counter-productive? Is revolution inevitable, and if so, will a socialist society definitely emerge?

Continuing our new fortnightly series examining the works of Rosa Luxemburg, our second session begins our deep dive into her takes on Reform and Revolution. We’ll be looking at her ideas on how revolutions emerge, where socialist efforts should be focused, and crucially, how to effectively reply to your haters.

The main piece we will be discussing is Rosa’s 1900 “Reform or Revolution” essay, a 62 page response to socialist “reformers” in Germany. The full version is available here: https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1900/reform-revolution/index.htm
And for those short on time/attention, an edited 19-page excerpt of the essay is available here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fL9Isc3Ss_eeKywQrxiss5iAaEgQ6Je4?usp=sharing

Further recommended readings for this session:
- The Revolution in Russia (1905) – 2 pages: https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1905/02/08.htm
- Riot and Revolution (1906) – 5 pages: https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1906/misc/riot-revolution.htm
- The Russian Revolution (1918) – 27 pages: https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1918/russian-revolution/ (Edited 9-page excerpt available on the Google Drive link).

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These events will happen at 6:30pm on Tuesdays on Feb 6th, Feb 20th, Mar 5th, Mar 19th, Apr 2nd, Apr 16th, and Apr 30th.