“Capitalist society stands, as a roaring best, as an orgy of anarchy, as a pestilential breath, devastating culture and humanity, so it appears in all its nakedness.”
Sam Browse reports on a discussion of the Polish revolutionary’s thought and activism, organised by Labour Outlook and Arise Festival
On the 15th of January 1919, Rosa Luxemburg and her comrade, Karl Liebknecht, were assassinated by fascist paramilitaries. Marking this anniversary, hundreds joined a discussion on Luxemburg’s inspiring revolutionary legacy: ‘Socialism or Barbarism – why Rosa Luxemburg Matters Today?’
The session formed part of the Socialist Ideas series of meetings and events jointly organised by Labour Outlook and Arise Festival. You can watch the session in full below or listen on the Arise Festival podcast.
A Polish émigré, Luxemburg was a leader of the German left, helped found the German Communist Party, and was one of the intellectual leading lights of the early 20th century international socialist movement.
The activists and academics Paul le Blanc and Helen Scott – editors of the acclaimed Pluto volume ‘Rosa Luxemburg: Socialism or Barbarism Selected Writings’ and of Verso’s forthcoming volume of collected writings – led the discussion.
Le Blanc began with the famed quote from Luxemburg: “Humanity is at a crossroads – socialism or barbarism?”. Summarising the Polish revolutionary, he said either the working class would overturn capitalism and replace it with a deeply democratic and humanistic socialist alternative or humanity would face “the collapse of all civilisation, depopulation, desolation, degeneration – a great cemetery”. Luxemburg, Le Blanc argued, saw the First World War as a “horrific advance’ in that direction”.
Le Blanc argued that the downward slide has continued, saying that we have “increasingly faced crescendos of violence and authoritarianism, and a seemingly never ending succession of armed conflicts around the world. Added to this is the prevalent reality of environmental crisis and destruction.”
Indeed, as Helen Scott subsequently highlighted, seeing the scenes emerging from Gaza today, and the horrific prospect of a regional escalation after the US and UK bombing of Yemen, one cannot help but reach similar conclusions about the barbarity of the contemporary capitalist system.
Scott emphasised Luxemburg’s consistent opposition to colonialism, an ‘opposition grounded in economic theory and rested on a deep understanding of the disastrous human impact of dispossession and colonisation.’
‘Throughout her life, she opposed militarism, famously breaking with most of the leadership of the second international in order to maintain a principled opposition to imperialist wars.’
Scott quoted a powerful passage from Luxemburg’s Junius pamphlet expressing her opposition to imperialist war:
“Cities are turned into shambles, whole countries are turned into deserts, villages into cemeteries, whole nations into beggars, churches into stables, popular rights, treaties, alliances, the holiest words and the highest authorities have been torn into scraps, shamed dishonoured and dripping in filth. Thus capitalist society stands, as a roaring best, as an orgy of anarchy, as a pestilential breath, devastating culture and humanity, so it appears in all its nakedness.”
Scott and Le Blanc both emphasised Luxemburg’s focus on mass action: “the political strategy she endorsed… was of mass actions capable of bringing the system to a halt by interrupting business as usual… if workers stopped making guns, and soldiers refused to fight for their nations, the imperialist war machine could not function.”
These lessons of uncompromising opposition to imperialism and war – and mobilising mass action, underpinned by disciplined organisation, to disrupt the functioning of capitalism – should be key priorities for socialists today. To hear more about the inspiring legacy of Rosa Luxemburg – and how we continue to fight for socialism against the barbarity of capitalism – you can catch up on the discussion below.
- ‘Socialism or Barbarism? Why Rosa Luxemburg Matters Today‘ with Paul Le Blanc and Helen Scott was hosted by Arise Festival and Labour Outlook on January 14th as part of the Socialist Ideas Series.
- Helen and Paul are co-editors of the Pluto Press collection, ‘Socialism or Barbarism: Selected Writings of Rosa Luxemburg‘.
- You can see all upcoming Arise Festival events here.
- You can follow Arise Festival on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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