From the January-February 2022 issue of News & Letters
Cover design by Sinem Can
Rosa Luxemburg, Kadınların Kurtuluşu ve Marx’ın Devrim Felsefesi Tanıtım Bülteni
Now available in Turkish! Rosa Luxemburg, Women’s Liberation, and Marx’s Philosophy of Revolution by Raya Dunayevskaya. Translated by Melda Yaman, published by Köstebek Kolektif.
From the publisher:
“Rosa Luxemburg” is much more than a philosophical biography. It is a sympathetic and critical portrayal of Luxemburg as a woman, thinker, organizer, and revolutionary. Dunayevskaya depicts Luxemburg as a passionate internationalist, anti-war, bright, brave and independent woman who believes in the spontaneity of the people. She depicts a woman who sees herself as the philosophical heir to Marx, rejecting her lover’s and other men’s efforts to discourage her from fully participating in “making history” simply because she is a woman, a woman “who joyfully throws her whole life on the scales of destiny.”
Part 2, “The Women’s Liberation Movement,” is one of the most exciting and uplifting writings since the early days of the Women’s Liberation Movement, where writing and organization often go hand in hand. In this captivating portrayal of women in the movement, Dunayevskaya ranges from revolutionary leaders to activists in the Women’s Liberation Movement, from literati to philosophers, from working women on strike to Black women rebelling against their male comrades, both around the world and throughout history.
In the final part, Dunayevskaya draws attention to the fact that Marx is the only philosopher of the “total revolution,” that is, a revolution that will touch and transform all human relations, a revolution in permanence that will never end. She underlines that Marx discovered a whole new continent of thought and revolution, and creatively brought together struggling concepts and practice in harmony.
Coming next issue: Interview with Melda Yaman, the translator