Spartacus Review

Volume 36: 26th August, 2009

Political Philosophy

	Title: Rosa Luxemburg: Selected Political and Literary Writings Author: Rosa Luxemburg Publisher: Merlin Press Price: £14.95 Bookshop: Amazon Spartacus Website: Rosa Luxemburg Category: Philosophy
Rosa Luxemburg, perhaps the most remarkable and original figure among German Marxist thinkers and activists, was one of the earliest victims of fascism, murdered in Berlin, in 1919. This volume presents selected political essays, writings previously unavailable in English. They reveal Luxemburg's aversion to splits in the Labour movement, particularly in Germany and Russia, and aspects of her thinking about culture, nationalism and women's rights. Each essay is annotated, introduced and placed in context.

	Title: The Roots of Contemporary Imperialism Author: Valerio Volpi Publisher: University Press of America Price: £18.95 Bookshop: Amazon Spartacus Website: J. A. Hobson Category: Philosophy
The Roots of Contemporary Imperialism maintain that the presence of men like George W. Bush and all that follows in terms of popular repression and business domination is not the result of an authoritarian regression of U.S. politics, supposedly begun under Reagan: it is, instead, the prosecution of a project that came to light during the age of the Founding Fathers, whose main concern was not people's freedom, but, rather, the devising of constitutional mechanisms intended to defend the properties, wealth and privileges of economic elites. Barack Obama's recent election as the nominee of one of the two wings of the single "business party," despite the rhetoric about "change" and "hope," followed exactly the same pattern.