Women and Revolution: Rosa Luxemburg, Raya Dunayevskaya and Hannah Arendt Alhelí Alvarado- Díaz ada2003@columbia.edu Eugène Delacroix, La Liberté guidant le peuple (1830) Course Description This seminar will introduce students to the thought and writings of Rosa Luxemburg Raya Dunayevskaya and Hannah Arendt. Devoted to the advancement of radical politics, Luxemburg and Dunayevskaya represent two singular cases in the history of philosophy s encounter with activism. Educated in Marxist philosophy, both thinkers chose public activism as the most coherent translation of Marx s program for the success of revolutionary action. A political activist and co- founder of the Spartacus League, Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) offered lucid and provocative reflections on the possibilities of reconciling political theory with social action. Her work on the idea and experience of spontaneity emphasized the dilemma between political party discipline and the people s right to act. A close reader of Luxemburg and militant of the Marxist Humanist movement in America, Raya Dunayevskaya
(1910-1987) revisited Rosa Luxemburg s original questions incorporating the new unresolved interrogations of her era. The Cold War, political authoritarianism, the new feminist wave, racial conflict and anti- colonialism, formed part of Dunayevskaya s new understanding of Luxemburg s theory in the context of the new historical context after the Second World War. Dunayevskaya s correspondence with Herbert Marcuse, philosopher of the Frankfurt School, evidenced the degree of her commitment to the resolution of ongoing social conflict and to the discovery of effective and long- term political strategy. Hannah Arendt offers a self- critical approach to revolutionary politics. Her works revisit the history of radical leaders, including Luxemburg, confronting the shortcomings of radicalism and the possibilities for the restoration of an authentic political renewal in the postwar context. Arendt s work contributes to de- mythicize the orthodox Left, proposing a critical approach to the study of political theory and historical action. Her thinking process evidences the maturity of the political theorist empowered by historical knowledge and fearless of public polemics. Arendt s spirit of self- criticism and intellectual autonomy shows the perfect embodiment of the revolutionary spirit committed to the coherence between theory and practice. The study of these three female thinkers narrates the story of the adoption, the adaptation and the transformation of a theory for radical change free of any ideological dogmatism. The seminar will discuss important connections to the history of social movements and the evolution of feminism worldwide. Prior exposure to political theory is highly recommended, although not required. Course Objectives 1. Students will learn to close- read and critically analyze the philosophical writings of Rosa Luxemburg and Raya Dunayevskaya comparing similarities and differences in both theoretical discourses. 2. Students will reflect on the connections between intellectual work and political activism. They will explore the ways in which active political life serves a constructive test measuring the feasibility of theoretical programs. 3. Students will distinguish the different adaptations and modification of Marxist theory in later militant generations. They will reflect critically on the limits of revolutionary theory and the shortcomings of radical activism. 4. Students will establish parallels between Marx, Luxemburg, Arendt and Dunayevskaya s vision of social change and recent forms of social protest including the counter- globalization movement, Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring. 5. Students will work on an original research project and submit a final research paper on a topic relevant to the seminar s discussion and readings. They will actively and consistently engage with the reading material through weekly short- written responses to the assigned texts of the week. Alhelí Alvarado 2
Course Rationale This course is designed as a two- hour seminar discussion. Each session will be devoted to a close analysis and reading of the assigned text(s) and author(s). I will offer a 10-15 minute introduction to each session, offering context to the life and times of the author(s) in question. Discussion will require attentive reading of the assigned material and active participation. The course syllabus (pp.4-8) outlines the themes, central ideas and reading assignments for each session. Students are required to reflect on the three listed topics underneath each session s title. I will email discussion questions and general comments related to the assigned material two days before the seminar for students to prepare for the upcoming meeting. Suggested readings and other sources will also be posted in the course s website in Columbia s Courseworks. There will be two screenings related to the seminar s topic: Die Bleierne Zeit/ Two German Sisters, Margarethe von Trotta (1981) and Arendt, Margarethe von Trotta (2012). Course Requirements Active Class Participation 20% Weekly Reading Responses 20% Bibliography and Abstract of Final Paper 10% Final Paper 50% Alhelí Alvarado 3
Required Texts The Rosa Luxemburg Reader, Peter Hudis and Kevin Anderson eds. (Monthly Review Press, 2004) Rosa Luxemburg, The Accumulation of Capital (Routledge Classics, 2003) Raya Dunayevskaya, Marxism and Freedom: From 1776 Until Today (Humanity Books, 2000) Raya Dunayevskaya, Philosophy and Revolution: From Hegel to Sartre, and from Marx to Mao (Lexington Books, 2003) Raya Dunayevskaya, Rosa Luxemburg, Women's Liberation, and Marx's Philosophy of Revolution (University of Illinois Press, 2003) Raya Dunayevskaya, Women's Liberation and the Dialectics of Revolution: Reaching for the Future (Wayne State University Press, 1996) The Dunayevskaya- Marcuse- Fromm Correspondence, 1954-1978: Dialogues on Hegel, Marx, and Critical Theory, Kevin Anderson and Russell Rockwell (Lexington Books, 2012) Hannah Arendt, The Portable Hannah Arendt (Penguin Classics, 2003) Alhelí Alvarado 4
Rethinking Marxism: The Philosophy and Activism of Rosa Luxemburg and Raya Dunayevskaya Part I: Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) Session I: Rosa Luxemburg as Political Theorist First Encounters with Marxist Theory Luxemburg s Original Proposals Revolution in Fin- de- Siècle Europe Rosa Luxemburg, Reform or Revolution (1900) Leszek Kolakowski, Rosa Luxemburg and the Revolutionary Left, Main Currents of Marxism (Norton, 2005) Stephen Eric Bronner, Childhood and Youth, Rosa Luxemburg: A Revolutionary of Our Times (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993) J.P. Nettl, Poland: The Early Years, 1871-1890, Switzerland: Study and Politics, Rosa Luxemburg (Oxford University Press, 1966) Session II: The Debate on Political Strategies and Priorities The Internal Divisions of the Marxists The Problem of Dogmatism Adopting and Adapting Marx to Historical Reality Rosa Luxemburg, Leninism or Marxism (1904) Leszek Kolakowski, Marxism in Russia before the Rise of Bolshevism, The Rise of Leninism, Main Currents of Marxism (Norton, 2005) J.P. Nettl, First Battles in a New Arena,1898-1899, The Dialectic as a Career, 1899-1904, Defending the Fortress- The Battle against Revisionism, Russian, Jews and Poles, Rosa Luxemburg (Oxford University Press, 1966) Session III: The Practice of Radical Ideas Questions of Collective Organization Masses, Leaders and Intellectuals The Context of Political Struggles Alhelí Alvarado 5
Rosa Luxemburg, The Mass Strike (1906) The National Question (1909) Theory and Practice (1910) J.P. Nettl, Revolution Overtakes the Revolutionaries, The Lost Years, Rosa Luxemburg (Oxford University Press, 1966) Session IV: Luxemburg s Critique of Imperialism and Warfare Luxemburg s Opposition to World War I Luxemburg Defines Empire War s Capital Rosa Luxemburg, Peace Utopias (1911) The Idea of May Day on the March (1913) The Old Mole (1917) Speeches and Letters on War and Revolution (1918-1919) Session V: Luxemburg s Interpretation of Russian Revolution Spontaneity and Organization Revisited Marx after the Bolshevik Success New Alternatives for Radical Action Rosa Luxemburg, The Russian Revolution (1918) Session VI: Luxemburg on the State and the Rights of Women Prisoner of Consciousness Women s Rights as Measure of Social Prosperity Women and The Fate of Political Leadership Rosa Luxemburg, Letters from Prison (1916-1918) What are the Leaders Doing (1919) Writings on Women (1902-1914) Alhelí Alvarado 6
Part II: Raya Dunayevskaya (1910-1987) Session VII: Dunayevskaya s Reading of Luxemburg The Contributions of Luxemburg to Radical Militancy Luxemburg s Improvements to Marxist Theory Raya Dunayevskaya, A Letter on Rosa Luxemburg and Capital Accumulation (1943) Luxemburg s Theory of Accumulation. How it Differed with Marx and Lenin (1946) Raya Dunayevskaya, Stalinists Falsify Marxism Anew. Teaching Marxism in the Soviet Union (1948) Raya Dunayevskaya, The Second International, 1889-1914, The Collapse of the Second International and the Break in Lenin s Thought, Forms of Organization: The Relationship of the Spontaneous Self- Organization of the Proletariat to the Vanguard Party, What Happens After, Russian State Capitalism vs. Workers Revolt, The Challenge of Mao Tse- Tung, Marxism and Freedom (1958) Session VIII: Dunayevskaya s Version of Feminism Women s Revolutionary Promise The Conditions for the Evolution of the Movement The State of Feminism in Dunayevskaya s Time Raya Dunayevskaya, Rosa Luxemburg as Theoretician, as Activist, as Internationalist, The Women s Liberation Movement as Revolutionary Force and Reason, Rosa Luxemburg, Women s Liberation and Marx s Philosophy of Revolution (1983) Film: Die Bleierne Zeit/ Two German Sisters, Margarethe von Trotta (1981) Session IX: Dunayevskaya on 1968 Marxist- Humanism in 1968 The Possibilities of Praxis Philosophy s Interaction with the Historical World Raya Dunayevskaya, The near- revolution of France, 1968: Why did it fail?, 1968 Practicing Philosophy and Revolution, May 1968 From Marx to Marxist- Humanism, 1969 Praxis and the responsibility of intellectuals, 1971 Marxist- Humanism s concept of Subject, 1971 Women s liberation, then and now, 1971 Alhelí Alvarado 7
Philosophy & Revolution, 1973 What is philosophy? What is revolution? What is anti- imperialism?, 1979 'On political divides and philosophic new beginnings', 1987 Session X: Hannah Arendt on Revolution Rethinking Revolution Arendt on Violence Arendt, The Revolutionary Tradition and its Lost Treasure, The Portable Hannah Arendt Session XI: Arendt on Luxemburg Hannah Arendt and Rosa Luxemburg: Parallels Arendt, A Heroine of the Revolution, The New York Review of Books, October 6, 1966, The Portable Hannah Arendt Session XII: Human Rights Polemics Human Rights as Concept Human Rights as Practice Arendt, The Jews and Society ; Organized Guilt and Universal Responsibility, The Perplexities of the Rights of Man, Portable Hannah Arendt Session XIII: Renovation of Democracy Arendt s Definitions of Democracy Arendt What is Freedom?, The Public and the Private Realm?, Labor, Work, Action Session XIV: Conscience & Agency Judgment, Guilt, Reparations Parameters of Political Correctness Responsibility and Individual Will Arendt, Excerpts from Eichmann in Jerusalem Margarethe von Trotta, Arendt Alhelí Alvarado 8