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. 

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. 

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.

"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 Marxists refuted. History proved that both Bernstein and Rosa were right, and that the solution likely lies somewhere in the middle of their respective assessments.

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 Luxemburg wished they would take on?

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.

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.  

Rosa works tirelessly for the Cause, but she also expresses her feelings towards Leo Jogiches in her letters.