Rosa Luxemburg, Women's Liberation, and Marx's Philosophy of Revolution

Dunayevskaya, Raya
Publisher:  Humanities Press, Atlantic Highlands
Year First Published:  {12407 Rosa Luxemburg, Women's Liberation, and Marx's Philosophy of Revolution ROSA LUXEMBURG WOMENS LIBERATION AND MARXS PHILOSOPHY OF REVOLUTION Dunayevskaya, Raya Humanities Press Atlantic Highlands Part I - Rosa Luxemburg as Theoretician, as Activist, as Internationalist. Part II - The Women's Liberation Movement as Revolutionary Force and Reason. Part III - Karl Marx: From Critic of Hegel to Author of Capital and Theorist of "Revolution in Permanence." 1981 1982 234pp BC12407-WomensLiberation.jpg B Book 0-391-02793-X HX273.L83D86 1982 355.4 Dunayevskaya writes: By mid-August, when Luxemburg was working on The Mass Strike, the Party and the Trade Unions, it was clear that, far from the pamphlet's being restricted to the topics in the title, Luxemburg was, in fact, beginning to question not just the conservative trade union leadership, but the relation of Marxist leadership to spontaneity. She had always been highly responsive to proletarian acts of spontaneity. What was different this time was that the 1905 Revolution had disclosed a totally new relationship also to Marxist leadership. The most exciting phenomenon was that the so-called backward Russian worrkers had proved themselves far in advance of those in the technologically advanced countries, particularly Germany. Moreover, the Russian Revolution was not just a national happening. In its impact on both East and West, it had displayed an elemental force and reason of world scope. Luxemburg at once began working out its application to Germany. <br>It a word, spontaneity did not mean just instinctive action as against conscious direction. Quite the contrary: spontaneity was a driving force, not only of revolution but of the vanguard leadership, keeping it left. As Luxemburg expressed in her pamphlet: "The element of spontaneity, as we have seen, plays a great part in all Russian mass strikes without exception, be it as a driving force or as a restraining influence... In short, in the mass strikes in Russia, the element of spontaneity plays such a predominant part, not becuase the Russian proletariat are 'uneducated,' but because revolutions do not allow anyone to play schoolmaster with them." CX6547 0 true true false CX6547.htm [0xc0009b22a0 0xc000d04ff0 0xc000db86c0 0xc001c17020 0xc001eca240 0xc001f227b0 0xc0022106c0 0xc0022115f0 0xc00017dda0 0xc0001bc060 0xc000259d10 0xc000278de0 0xc00029a330 0xc000353bf0 0xc000374210 0xc000374cf0 0xc000387e00 0xc0003a8480 0xc002363050 0xc002370810 0xc000243230 0xc00025bf50 0xc000455ad0 0xc0023f5230 0xc0023f56e0 0xc0000668a0 0xc000504630 0xc0005de510 0xc0001e0b10 0xc0004fd230 0xc00094def0 0xc000996d20 0xc000117590 0xc00053eae0 0xc0006eb710 0xc000c272c0 0xc0003ab590 0xc0004ba750 0xc000834de0 0xc00090b140 0xc000c3b860 0xc0013d6630 0xc00140e1b0 0xc001463260 0xc00148ae40 0xc002474c90 0xc001518780 0xc001538300 0xc0003d3e60 0xc00041d830 0xc0008e4990 0xc001844810 0xc001aa61e0 0xc001ba3470 0xc001fa5f50 0xc00098afc0 0xc000f114a0 0xc000f775c0 0xc0017e76b0 0xc001858db0 0xc001a348a0 0xc001aa4e70 0xc0020f1bc0 0xc002192150 0xc0024144b0 0xc0025a0780 0xc00260b6b0 0xc0025fd620 0xc0000e4690 0xc00024fa40 0xc0003782d0 0xc000480030 0xc000d92180 0xc000dd4660 0xc000f9df50 0xc001804240 0xc0022009c0 0xc00226eed0 0xc00230a060 0xc0023a4750 0xc0023dd230 0xc002705da0 0xc002727b90 0xc00273b0b0 0xc002750600 0xc00279cc30 0xc0027c7920 0xc002805a10] Cx}
Year Published:  1982
Pages:  234pp   ISBN:  0-391-02793-X
Library of Congress Number:  HX273.L83D86 1982   Dewey:  355.4
Resource Type:  Book
Cx Number:  CX6547

Part I - Rosa Luxemburg as Theoretician, as Activist, as Internationalist. Part II - The Women's Liberation Movement as Revolutionary Force and Reason. Part III - Karl Marx: From Critic of Hegel to Author of Capital and Theorist of "Revolution in Permanence."

Abstract: 
Dunayevskaya writes: By mid-August, when Luxemburg was working on The Mass Strike, the Party and the Trade Unions, it was clear that, far from the pamphlet's being restricted to the topics in the title, Luxemburg was, in fact, beginning to question not just the conservative trade union leadership, but the relation of Marxist leadership to spontaneity. She had always been highly responsive to proletarian acts of spontaneity. What was different this time was that the 1905 Revolution had disclosed a totally new relationship also to Marxist leadership. The most exciting phenomenon was that the so-called backward Russian worrkers had proved themselves far in advance of those in the technologically advanced countries, particularly Germany. Moreover, the Russian Revolution was not just a national happening. In its impact on both East and West, it had displayed an elemental force and reason of world scope. Luxemburg at once began working out its application to Germany.
It a word, spontaneity did not mean just instinctive action as against conscious direction. Quite the contrary: spontaneity was a driving force, not only of revolution but of the vanguard leadership, keeping it left. As Luxemburg expressed in her pamphlet: "The element of spontaneity, as we have seen, plays a great part in all Russian mass strikes without exception, be it as a driving force or as a restraining influence... In short, in the mass strikes in Russia, the element of spontaneity plays such a predominant part, not becuase the Russian proletariat are 'uneducated,' but because revolutions do not allow anyone to play schoolmaster with them."

Subject Headings

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