A personal take on the life of Polish Marxist, philosopher, economist, anti-war activist and revolutionary socialist Rosa Luxemburg. Although it will reflect on the events of her life in light of the historical context and political climate, this podcast doesn't pretend to be an academic work on the life of Rosa Luxemburg. Telling stories of her life and times, with excerpts from letters to her friends, lovers and fellow social-democrats is the real aim here. Over a century after her assassi ...
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Episode 14. Reform or Revolution - Part 4
13:29
13:29
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The final part of this series on Rosa Luxemburg's seminal work. To me personally, what makes me think reform might be a waste of time, or, rather, a plaster on a seriously infected wound.By Carole Bulewski
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Episode 13. Reform or Revolution – Part 3
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14:38
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Penultimate episode on Reform or Revolution. Here we see Rosa arguing that the reforms advocated by the likes of Bernstein and Konrad Schmidt will only go so far because ot the capitalist nature of the State itself.By Carole Bulewski
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Episode 12. Reform or Revolution - Part 2
14:10
14:10
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Rosa continues to refute Bernstein's theory, this time from an economic point of view. The element she was missing in her analysis was that of time, and we know now that capitalism, like Covid-19, always finds a way to mutate and reinfect society. And maybe that, in itself, is justification enough to support revolution rather than reform.…
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Episode 11. Reform or Revolution - Part 1
14:16
14:16
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"Reform or Revolution” is one of Rosa Luxemburg's major works. It was written in 1898-1899 and is the ‘orthodox’ Marxist response to Eduard Bernstein’s “Problems of Socialism”. Here we start exploring what Bernstein's ideas were in terms of the evolution of Capitalism and how to effectively respond to this evolution. Ideas that Rosa and the Marxist…
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Episode 10. Rosa and the Unions - The Labour of Sisyphus
9:13
9:13
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Rosa Luxemburg had a complicated relationship with unions. From their role as organised defence of the working class, she wanted them to move on to become weapons of attack against capitalist exploitation . Union leaders misunderstood her and she became their nemesis. If there is a true role for unions in this day and age, though, isn't that Rosa L…
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In 1897, Rosa has just completed her PhD and is coming to Berlin, a centre of Socialist activities. The legalised Social Democratic Party, or SPD, has more than 100,000 members, and 90 different socialist daily newspapers. This is the perfect place for Rosa's next move.By Carole Bulewski
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Episode 8. Rosa and the French Socialists
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15:09
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The late 19th century was an active time for French Socialism. Rosa Luxemburg would debate with Guesde and Jaures, the main leaders of the French left, the former a revolutionary closer to her ideas and the latter a formidable character with whom she didn't always agree.By Carole Bulewski
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Rosa is finding it increasingly difficult to reconcile her responsibilities with her private life.By Carole Bulewski
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Rosa works tirelessly for the Cause, but she also expresses her feelings towards Leo Jogiches in her letters.By Carole Bulewski
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On the occasion of the 100-year anniversary of 1793, Rosa Luxemburg wrote an article for Sprawa Robotnicza, hers and Leo Jogiches's newspaper. The full text, as published by Pluto Press in "Socialism or Barbarism" is presented here, with my commentary on the French Revolution.By Carole Bulewski
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Rosa is in Paris to supervise the printing of issues of Sprawa Robotnicza, the newspaper she and Leo have founded. Leo is in Zurich, telling her what to do, what's wrong with her work, and she's rebelling against his attitude.By Carole Bulewski
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A look into Rosa's life with fellow revolutionary socialist Leo Jogiches, opening up a series on the letters she wrote to him from Lake Geneva and Paris, where she was overseeing the printing of their newspaper, The Worker's Cause.By Carole Bulewski
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A brief background on Rosa's early years in Poland, and her first struggles.
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An introduction to the podcast, highlighting my reasons for talking about Rosa Luxemburg in my own personal, non-academic way.By Carole Bulewski
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