Rosa Luxemburg’s “Hysterical Materialism” in Feminist Perspective

At the end of the nineteenth century, Rosa Luxemburg spread her brand of socialist internationalism among the working class and party elite at a time of oppressive imperial rule and armed conflicts increasingly fueled by nationalism. Her detractors both inside and outside the socialist movement labeled her an “hysterical” woman, “backwards” Pole, and “untrustworthy” Jewess, yet she was able to spread her internationalism to a wide audience with the help of those who shared her political vision. She frequently blended scientific economic arguments with humanist moralism in her political tracts, and her views on revolution and the popular masses inspired her detractors to accuse her of a dogmatic devotion to the people. This presentation examines how the political opponents of Rosa Luxemburg used emotion as a line of attack against Rosa Luxemburg, while also examining how Luxemburg herself expressed and used emotion in her writings and politics. It will also delve into the legacy of Luxemburg, particularly in East Germany where officials within the Socialist Unity Party dubbed her style of socialism “hysterical materialism” in an effort to debase her theoretical legitimacy in a Communist state that bore no relation to the ideal she envisioned and fought for.