Socialism or Barbarism? Selected Writings

by Rosa Luxemburg

'Rosa Luxemburg travels into the twenty-first century like a great messenger bird, spanning continents, scanning history, to remind us that our present is not new but a continuation of a long human conflict' Adrienne Rich

This is the best and most comprehensive introduction to the range of Rosa Luxemburg's thought.

Rosa Luxemburg's writings reveal one of the most brilliant and passionate minds drawn to revolutionary socialism. Through her letters, pamphlets and theorising, we see an outstanding social and economic theorist, a dedicated political activist and a devoted confidant.

This books gives an extensive overview of the broad scope of her writing, covering issues including capitalism and socialism, globalisation and imperialism, history, war and peace, social struggles, trade unions, political parties, class, gender, race, and the natural world. There is also an introduction outlining and evaluating her life and thought.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction, Theory, Economics, Philosophy, Essays

281 pages, Paperback

First published November 9, 2010

About the author

Rosa Luxemburg (Rosalia Luxemburg, Polish: Róża Luksemburg) was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen. She was successively a member of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, the Social Democratic Party of Germany(SPD), the Independent Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Germany.

In 1915, after the SPD supported German involvement in World War I, she co-founded, with Karl Liebknecht, the anti-war Spartakusbund (Spartacist League). On 1 January 1919 the Spartacist League became the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). In November 1918, during the German Revolution she founded the Die Rote Fahne (The Red Flag), the central organ of the Spartacist movement.

She regarded the Spartacist uprising of January 1919 in Berlin as a blunder, but supported it after Liebknecht ordered it without her knowledge. When the revolt was crushed by the social democrat government and the Freikorps (WWI veterans defending the Weimar Republic), Luxemburg, Liebknecht and some of their supporters were captured and murdered. Luxemburg was drowned in the Landwehr Canal in Berlin. After their deaths, Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht became martyrs for Marxists. According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, commemoration of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht continues to play an important role among the German far-left.

Reviews

[Kaushik · Rating 5 out of 5]

A neat collection of Rosa's major writings - a few of them are excerpts and some are presented in full. The full writings are obviously available on the internet, but this book offers historical context for each chapter and condenses them so as to form a great introductory reading of Luxemburg's thought.

Her criticisms of Leninism (although she was support of the Russian Revolution itself) and support for civil liberties and democracy ring exceptionally true to this day. Her points about treating Marxism as a religion are relevant for today's Marxists, especially the dogmatic-ass ones.

I personally am not a Marxist, but it was nice reading this book and understanding Marxist thought.

Would recommend as an introduction to Luxemburg's thought.

[Darran Mclaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. She should be more widely read and discussed. An absolute hero. I may write more later

[Emily Davies (libraryofcalliope) · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨.
This was the @leftbookclub pick for the month of January. Rosa Luxemburg is an extraordinary figure and her writings are as well. She was a Polish Marxist, philosopher, and activist who was active in the German socialist scene, imprisoned for her anti war activism, and eventually executed by the Freikorps, government-sponsored paramilitary groups, after a rebellion against the government. I thought this collection of her writings was both varied and interesting, providing a brilliant example of her work with excellent introductions to each piece to place it into its context. The pieces compiled vary widely, from her analyses of Marx, her espousal of female suffrage, her thoughts on Lenin both before and after the Russian revolution, and her condemnation of imperialism and its relationship to the First World War. I have been meaning to read more of her work and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. I was delighted at how readable the dense theory was, and Luxemburg’s wicked sense of humour throughout. I really enjoyed reading this.

[Saumya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely adore everything Rosa stood for! An amazing book that addressed a lot of her main theories. She discussed how capitalism becomes another beast when it is combined with nationalism which can be seen in today's society. She also touched on how capitalism will lead to imperialism which again history has shown to be true. I read this for my economics paper on Rosa and I chose her because I knew that her writing would appeal to me. "Bloody Rosa" was an influential woman who advocated for mass action and believed in the power of labor.

[Tim McCormick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit thin for an introductory reader but hits the highlights and explains her relevance

[Mark Edon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Selected writings will be enough for me.

Her eloquent but jarring (for me anyway) writing style, made it a slog.

Fascinating glimpse into history, oh how it rhymes!!

[Steven R]

Interesting collection of L's writings shows her development quite well and her varying attitudes towards strategy, bolshevism and Lenin, among other key points in her thought.

[june · Rating 4 out of 5]

the flames of a new fire are spreading upward from the depths!