Communism

History of communism This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Image File history File links Hammer_and_sickle. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Schools of communism Marxism · Leninism Trotskyism · Maoism Left communism Council communism Anarchist communism Christian communism To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is therefore a branch of Marxism. ... Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. ... Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛泽东思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng SÄ«xiÇŽng), is a variant of Marxism-Leninism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893–1976). ... Left Communism is a term describing a whole range of communist viewpoints which oppose the political ideas of the Bolsheviks from a position which is asserted to be more authentically Marxist and proletarian than the views held by the Communist International after its first two Congresses. ... Council communism is a Radical Left movement originating in Germany and the Netherlands in the 1920s. ... Anarchist communism, also known as Communist anarchism, Anarcho-communism, or Libertarian communism, is a political ideology related to Libertarian socialism. ... Christian communism is a form of religious communism centered around Christianity. ... Communist parties Communist International World Communist Movement International Communist Current Communist Workers International Fourth International In modern usage, a communist party is a political party which promotes communism, the sociopolitical philosophy based on Marxism. ... The first edition of Communist International, journal of the Comintern published in Moscow and Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg) in May 1919. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The International Communist Current is a centralised international left communist organisation with sections throughout the world. ... The Communist Workers International (German: Kommunistische Arbeiter-Internationale, KAI), also known as the Fourth International, was a council communist international. ... Emblem of the Fourth International The Fourth International has been the international organisation of Trotskyist communists. ... Communist states The Soviet Union People's Republic of China Cuba · Vietnam Laos · North Korea A Communist state is a state governed by a single political party which declares its allegiance to the principles of Marxism-Leninism. ... Related subjects Socialism Titoism Marxism-Leninism Eurocommunism Religious communism New Left Planned economy Historical materialism Anti-communism Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... Titoism is a term describing political ideology named after Yugoslav leader, Josip Broz Tito, primarily used to describe the schism between the Soviet Union and Socialist Yugoslavia after the Second World War (see Cominform) when the Communist Party of Yugoslavia refused to take further dictates from Moscow. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is a branch of Marxism (and it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ... Eurocommunism was an attempt in the 1970s by various European communist parties to widen their appeal by embracing public sector middle-class workers, new social movements such as feminism and gay liberation, rejecting support of the Soviet Union, and expressing more clearly their fidelity to democratic institutions. ... Religious communism is a term used by some Communists that claim that before communism became associated with atheism, the word communism was mainly used by religious groups. ... The New Left is a term used in political discourse to refer to radical left-wing movements from the 1960s onwards. ... A planned economy is an economic system in which decisions about the production, allocation and consumption of goods and services are planned ahead of time, usually in a centralized fashion, though some proposed systems favour decentralized planning. ... Historical materialism (or what Marx himself called the materialist conception of history - materialistische Geschichtsauffassung) is a social theory and an approach to the study of history and sociology, normally considered the intellectual basis of Marxism. ... Anti-communism is the opposition to communist ideology, organization, or government, on either an ideological or pragmatic basis. ...

Luxemburgism (also written Luxembourgism) is a specific revolutionary theory within communism, based on the writings of Rosa Luxemburg. According to M. K. Dziewanowski, the term was originally coined by Bolshevik leaders denouncing the deviations from traditional Leninism of Luxemburg's followers, but it has since been adopted by her followers themselves. It has been suggested that Revolutionary be merged into this article or section. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (March 5, 1870 or 1871 – January 15, 1919, in Polish Róża Luksemburg) was a Polish-born German Marxist political theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary. ... Leaders of the Bolshevik Party and the Communist International, a painting by Malcolm McAllister on the Pathfinder Mural in New York City and on the cover of the book Lenin’s Final Fight published by Pathfinder. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is therefore a branch of Marxism. ...

Overview

Rosa Luxemburg

The chief tenets of Luxemburgism are commitment to democracy and the necessity of the revolution taking place as soon as possible. In this regard, it is similar to Council Communism, but differs in that, for example Luxemburgists don't reject unions or elections by principle. It resembles Anarchism in its insistence that only relying on the people themselves as opposed to their leaders can avoid an Authoritarian society. That idea, which Stanley Aronowitz calls "generalized democracy in an unarticulated form," represents Luxemburgism's greatest break with mainstream communism, since it effectively diminishes the role of the Communist Party itself. According to Aronowitz, the vagueness of Luxembourgian democracy is one reason for its initial difficulty in gaining widespread support. However, since the fall of the Soviet Union, Luxemburgism has been seen by some socialist thinkers as a way to avoid the totalitarianism of Stalinist government. However, there is very few active Luxemburgist revolutionary movement; interest in the theory is primarily limited to intellectuals and academics, particularly feminists. Image File history File linksMetadata Rosa_Luxemburg. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Rosa_Luxemburg. ... Council communism is a Radical Left movement originating in Germany and the Netherlands in the 1920s. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... An election is a decision making process whereby people vote for preferred political candidates or parties to act as representatives in government. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... The term authoritarian is used to describe an organization or a state which enforces strong and sometimes oppressive measures against the population, generally without attempts at gaining the consent of the population. ... In modern usage, a communist party is a political party which promotes communism, the sociopolitical philosophy based on Marxism. ... Totalitarianism is a typology employed by political scientists, especially those in the field of comparative politics, to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. ...

Luxemburgism is a Marxist movement opposed to Leninism, because Luxemburgism intents to fight for revolution and democracy at the same time. Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ...

See also

• Spartacist League (Spartakusbund)
• Socialist Party USA - contains a stong Luxemburgist current. Luxemburgism/Councilism is mentioned in its handbook.

Note: many organisations today (mainly Trotskyist ones) consider Rosa Luxemburg as an influence on their theory and politics, though those organisations are not officially "Luxemburgist". The Spartacist League (Spartakusbund in German) was a left-wing Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during and just after the politically volatile years of World War I. It was founded by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg (nicknamed Red Rosa) along with others such as Clara Zetkin. ... The Socialist Party USA (SPUSA) is one of the heirs to the Socialist Party of America of Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas. ... Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. ...

References

• Aronowitz, Stanley. "Postmodernism and Politics." Social Text, No. 21: Universal Abandon? The Politics of Postmodernism (1989), pp. 46-62.
• Dziewanowski, M. K. "Social Democrats Versus "Social Patriots": The Origins of the Split of the Marxist Movement in Poland." American Slavic and East European Review, Vol. 10, No. 1. (Feb., 1951), pp. 14-25.

External links

• Rosa Luxemburg Internet Archive
• Feminist account of Luxemburg's importance by Beverly G. Merrick
• Libertarian Communist Library Archive
• Democratie Communiste (french luxemburgist group) (in french)

Some Luxemburgists

• Rosa Luxemburg
• Karl Liebknecht
• Clara Zetkin
• Paul Frolich
• René Lefeuvre
• Daniel Singer
• Alain Guillerm