Martorana and Mills .
Socialism or barbarism? Reform or revolution? These phrases both describe modern political debates and essays written by leftist political theorist Rosa Luxemburg over 100 years ago. The New Haven Free Public Library made this connection explicit Friday night in its event “Rosa Luxemburg and a Century of World-Changing Women,” featuring a talk with Luxemburg biographer Dana Mills and adult services librarian Rory Martorana during lunch hours, on Zoom and Facebook Live.
A titan of political thought, Luxemburg was never a leader in her time. She was one of the founders of the Polish Social Democratic Party, which would become the Polish Communist Party, and later worked for the communist Social Democratic Party in Germany. She critiqued socialists and communists from the left, taking issue with both moderate reformism and the less democratic side of what was then-nascent Leninism.
Mills, author of Rosa Luxemburg, walked the viewers of this talk through Luxemburg’s life — her intellectual development and the historical moments that led to her murder at age 47 at the hands of members of a conservative German paramilitary group — with the expertise of someone who has fully studied another, and the sense of living vicariously that comes from it.
The talk with Mills, a self-identified leftist based in Israel but teaching in Amsterdam (and speaking in New Haven), showed the best potential of our current remote reality. Radiating a love for her subject matter and always eager to quote Luxemburg directly when appropriate, Mills was quick to connect Luxemburg’s times with our own lives, from her Jewish identity to her socialist-feminist ideals.
But the true beauty of the talk — and Luxemburg’s most urgent relevance — came out in the audience Q&A portion of the event. Zoom webinars don’t offer the perk of an observer knowing just how many people have tuned in, and Facebook Live is an imperfect tool. But the caliber of questions helped one imagine a full lecture room anyway. Martorana fielded questions across platforms and asked them verbatim, and Mills answered with aplomb. On socialism and feminism in Luxemburg’s thought, Mills said, Luxemburg “was an intersectional feminist before it was cool. She was born and died in a very different world from ours ... she was the lefty celebrity of her time. She didn’t see gender as separate from class. One of the people she closely collaborated with was ... Clara Zetkin,” another member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany who led the organization of the first International Women’s Day in 1911.
Luxemburg’s unwillingness to sacrifice democracy in favor of revolution is a hallmark of her thought, and in leftist discourse, an extremely prescient one. Electoral politics and direct action, Mills said, both have places in today’s society.
“We need both legal changes and structures and revolution,” Mills said. “That’s why we need each other — none of these changes happen on their own ... you have to form collectives that will support you.”
Mills cited her own attitude toward politics as one of obligation: “I always consider my role in history. For me politics is not a joyful activity. It’s something you do because there is a moral calling that you have to do.” In cultivating her own sense of duty, and the sense of needing to work toward change even in dire circumstance, she drew directly from Luxemburg.
Another thoughtful question by an anonymous attendee (others commented more publicly, particularly through Facebook) asked about how to dispel fears about the word “socialism” in contemporary U.S. political discourse. Mills thanked the asker for the “generous” question and delivered a compelling answer. It began with the long history of socialist organizing within the United States, and then pointed toward the regard for politicians like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But fundamentally she advised people to define what socialism meant — beyond its strict economic meaning (that is, the means of production are in the hands of government, rather than in the hands of property owners, as under capitalism, or of workers, as under communism) and in a broader political context.
“Socialism is about equality. It’s about equal access to dignity. The very simple assertion that no one should be starving if there is enough to feed everyone,” Mills said. “It’s about respecting everyone,” putting in place “the integrity to protect ourselves ... healthcare is so important for us…. No one wins if there are poor people in our midst.”
As Mills repeatedly pointed out, Luxemburg lived in a world very different from our own, but “she summoned us here today.” Many of the issues she wrote on — the intersection of class and gender, the need for both reform and revolution, the necessity of a different way of life than that which capitalism could provide — are still just as relevant and just as debated.
Mills ended her talk with an exhortation: “Keep reading, keep talking to each other — keep connected. It’s so important.” It is, after all, what Luxemburg would do.
Mills’s biography, Rosa Luxemburg, is available at the New Haven Free Public Library. Visit the library’s calendar to view talks and other virtual events the library is hosting.