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[ROSA LUXEMBURG’S KEY MARXIST TEXT IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE] Sotsial’naya reforma ili revolyutsiya [i.e. Social Revolution or Reform]

Luxemburg, R.

Item #2527

Saint Petersburg: Vek, 1907. 126, [2] pp. 20,7x14,1 cm. In owner’s cloth binding. Very good. Inventory number and previous owner’s ink inscription on the title page. Title page slightly loose.

Scarce. Text in Russian.
One of the earliest Russian translations of Rosa Luxemburg’s foundational Marxist pamphlet “Social Reform or Revolution?” translated from German and published in Saint Petersburg in 1907.
In the Russian Empire, Luxemburg was mostly regarded as an enemy agitator, with her works circulating only in limited numbers. Her first book in Russian (Prazdnik Pervogo maya [i.e. May Day]) appeared in 1895 in St. Petersburg, issued by the Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class, which oversaw the distribution of illegal literature. Later, during the upheavals of 1905, censorship was temporarily relaxed as the tsarist regime was forced to make concessions. This brief opening allowed for the appearance of new parties, legal socialist newspapers, and publishing houses. It was in this atmosphere, between 1906 and 1907, that some of Luxemburg’s earliest Russian editions, including the present one, were published.
In the pamphlet, Rosa addresses the debate within the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) about the role of reform versus revolution in achieving socialism. Luxemburg argues against the revisionist views of Eduard Bernstein, who advocated gradual social reform within the existing capitalist system as a path to socialism. Instead, she defends orthodox Marxism, insisting that capitalism's inherent contradictions would inevitably lead to its collapse and that only a socialist revolution could bring about fundamental change.

Price: $1,500.00