Reform or Revolution? Why is one doomed to fail while the other is the only path capable of delivering us from capitalism and bringing about the vital changes necessary to tackle the manifold problems of our age? In the wake of the confusion and disillusionment caused for many by the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses we decided to read Rosa Luxemburg's classic piece 'Reform or Revolution'. With eerily familiar parralels to the present moment this piece is as relevant as the day it was written over 120 years ago, join us as we witness how Luxemburg deals a devastating hammer blow to the idea that reformism is a possible path to social revolution. This episode also marks the first episode from our series on Marxist feminists. As Thomas Sankara said, “Women hold up the other half of the sky.” The book club recognizes that including the voices of nonmen in our studies is not a niche activity, but is in fact an essential step in gaining the most comprehensive view of the material conditions of the past and present as we possibly can; so we’ve planned this series to amplify the ideas that nonmen have been bringing to the conversation for centuries. From Federici’s analysis of women as a means of primitive accumulation to Luxemburg’s essay of the benefits of revolution vs the impossibility reform, each of these works confronts history and the movement for social change through the lens of the experiences of nonmen in society. Follow us on Twitter at @RBCpod and feel free to message us if you need links to companion resources or have any questions. You can also find us on our new site at www.prolesbookclub.wordpress.com where you can find ebook copies of the works we're covering and more.
If you'd like to join the book club, you can join our podcast's discord server Red Book Club: https://www.patreon.com/redbookclub including access to our Red Book Club server and more. Thanks to @NunezKeenan for the intro theme; you can find more of their work here: http://tiny.cc/keenan Thanks to the Craig bot for helping us to record via Discord! Outro music: Chopping Block - Sheer Mag https://sheermag.bandcamp.com/
