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mothmans_mum 's review for:
The Essential Rosa Luxemburg: Reform or Revolution & the Mass Strike
by Rosa Luxemburg
This book is amazingly powerful, and Luxemburg's understanding is both acute and dauntingly thorough understanding.
The first piece included in this compilation is Reform or Revolution, a scathing critique of reformists who believe that capitalism can become 'nicer'. The astounding fact about this work is that the reformist arguments that Luxemburg so ruthlessly tore to shreds over a hundred years ago are the very same arguments that get made today: that capitalism can provide for all of humanity if only there were more, or perhaps less, regulations; that socialism can be brought about through parliamentary democracy; that tariffs, shareholdings, cooperatives, or the middle class are signs that society is heading towards socialism. Luxemburd destroys these arguments and more, and proves that capitalism has never, and can never, provide for all of humanity, and must be overthrown by a workers' revolution.
The second and last piece, The Mass Strike, is particularly pertinent given the current political situation in France. During Luxemburg's lifetime in Germany a so-called Socialist government had been elected and entrenched in the political bureaucracy. Unions had likewise become mechanical and bureaucratic, and strike rates and struggle were down. Luxemburg understood that the mass strikes that occurred in conjunction with the 1905 Russian Revolution were not leading the revolution, but conversely that the revolutionary atmosphere enabled the mass strikes to occur. The truth of this assertion is evident is France today: as I write this, huge demonstrations led by students and young workers have opened the doors for CGT, France's most left wing union body, to begin calling for generalised strikes, a situation not imaginable in recent years, especially given that a supposedly left wing government is in power. Her discussions of the interplay between economic and political struggles (the union movement in France is currently only making economic demands - how long before their demands become political?), and between socialist and union organisations are also pertinent today. There has never been a better time to read this essay.
The introduction to the collection by Helen Scot is also enthralling and tragic, and adds to the must-read status of this book.
The first piece included in this compilation is Reform or Revolution, a scathing critique of reformists who believe that capitalism can become 'nicer'. The astounding fact about this work is that the reformist arguments that Luxemburg so ruthlessly tore to shreds over a hundred years ago are the very same arguments that get made today: that capitalism can provide for all of humanity if only there were more, or perhaps less, regulations; that socialism can be brought about through parliamentary democracy; that tariffs, shareholdings, cooperatives, or the middle class are signs that society is heading towards socialism. Luxemburd destroys these arguments and more, and proves that capitalism has never, and can never, provide for all of humanity, and must be overthrown by a workers' revolution.
The second and last piece, The Mass Strike, is particularly pertinent given the current political situation in France. During Luxemburg's lifetime in Germany a so-called Socialist government had been elected and entrenched in the political bureaucracy. Unions had likewise become mechanical and bureaucratic, and strike rates and struggle were down. Luxemburg understood that the mass strikes that occurred in conjunction with the 1905 Russian Revolution were not leading the revolution, but conversely that the revolutionary atmosphere enabled the mass strikes to occur. The truth of this assertion is evident is France today: as I write this, huge demonstrations led by students and young workers have opened the doors for CGT, France's most left wing union body, to begin calling for generalised strikes, a situation not imaginable in recent years, especially given that a supposedly left wing government is in power. Her discussions of the interplay between economic and political struggles (the union movement in France is currently only making economic demands - how long before their demands become political?), and between socialist and union organisations are also pertinent today. There has never been a better time to read this essay.
The introduction to the collection by Helen Scot is also enthralling and tragic, and adds to the must-read status of this book.