Letters from Tomis

Readers of my blog will notice what a fan I am of Rosa Luxemburg, the brilliant theorist and activist whose insights into socialism and democracy have profoundly influenced my thinking. Her commitment to revolutionary change and her critique of capitalism resonate with many of the challenges we face today, making her work as relevant now as it was in her time. Through her writings, she inspires not only political discourse but also a deeper understanding of the importance of solidarity and grassroots movements in the pursuit of justice and equality across the globe.

Here is some additional material on one of her most famous works.

The background of Rosa Luxemburg’s Reform or Revolution (1899) is rooted in the sharp debates within the socialist movement at the end of the 19th century, particularly within the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Second International. Luxemburg, a Polish Marxist and revolutionary socialist, wrote this pamphlet as a polemic against the revisionist ideas of Eduard Bernstein, who was then a leading theorist within the SPD.

Historical Context:

By the late 1800s, the SPD had become the largest and most influential socialist party in Europe, operating within the relatively liberal political environment of the German Empire after the Anti-Socialist Laws were repealed in 1890. As the party grew, a divide emerged between two factions:

1. The orthodox Marxists: Those who believed in revolutionary socialism, emphasizing that capitalism could not be fundamentally transformed through parliamentary reforms alone and that a revolutionary overthrow of capitalism was inevitable.

2. The revisionists, led by Eduard Bernstein: Bernstein argued that capitalism had proven more adaptable and resilient than Marx had predicted. He suggested that socialism could be achieved gradually through democratic reforms and social legislation — hence the term “revisionism,” as Bernstein sought to revise core Marxist principles.

Luxemburg’s Motivation:

Luxemburg’s Reform or Revolution was written as a direct rebuttal to Bernstein’s arguments, particularly his book Evolutionary Socialism (1899), where Bernstein claimed that capitalism could “evolve” into socialism without a revolutionary rupture. Luxemburg saw this as a betrayal of Marxist principles and feared it would lead the working class into a cul-de-sac of reformism, permanently trapped within the framework of bourgeois democracy.

Core Themes of Reform or Revolution:

• Critique of gradualism: Luxemburg argues that reforms alone cannot abolish the capitalist mode of production. While reforms may temporarily alleviate working-class suffering, they leave the exploitative structure of capitalism intact.

• The necessity of revolution: She insists that the fundamental contradictions within capitalism — crises, class struggle, imperialism — will inevitably lead to its collapse, making revolutionary action not just desirable but necessary.

• Reforms as a by-product of struggle: Luxemburg does not oppose reforms outright but views them as by-products of revolutionary struggle, rather than as ends in themselves.

Broader Implications:

Reform or Revolution became one of the key texts defending orthodox Marxism at the turn of the century. Luxemburg’s arguments influenced the revolutionary wing of the socialist movement, including the Bolsheviks, and later provided theoretical ammunition against social democratic parties that embraced reformism and parliamentary gradualism in the 20th century.

The pamphlet also foreshadowed Luxemburg’s later positions, particularly her opposition to both social democratic accommodationism during World War I and later to certain aspects of Bolshevik centralism after the Russian Revolution.