A Second Reply to Stephen Eric Bronner

Abstract

In his “Notes on the Legacy of Rosa Luxemburg,” Stephen Eric Bronner reflects on the question of the contemporary significance of the ideas of the thinker and fighter he calls “the most important representative of a libertarian socialist tradition inspired by internationalism, economic justice, and a radical belief in democracy.” At a time when the global justice movement is leading more people to question neoliberal—and, for some, capitalist—certainties and to search for alternatives, Bronner’s question is timely. His rejection of dogmatically “regurgitating the old slogans or finding the appropriate citations from her pamphlets and speeches” and his suggestion that the inadequacies of Luxemburg’s thought deserve to be treated much as Luxemburg critically appraised Marx’s work are praiseworthy.