Second Renaissance / Ecosystem
Back to ORA directory
Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung homepage

Global

Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung

Detailed profile

https://www.rosalux.de/en/foundation

Location
Berlin, Germany
Scale
International
Type
Organization · Donor foundation
Activities
Advocacy & Organizing, Education, Philanthropy, Research, Public Commentary, Convening & Coordination
System focus
Politics, Policy, Planning & Law, Economy, Education, Community, Food, Energy & Resources, Security & Defence, Climate, Ecosystems, Transport
Approach
Sustainable Development, Just Transition, Social & Solidarity Economy, Participatory & Deliberative Democracy, Local Economies, Narratives, Political Economy, Ecological Civilization, The Commons
Issues
capitalism, social justice, inequality, social movements, international/multilateral institutions, environmental justice, war/violent conflict, human rights, governance, globalization
Keywords
socio-ecological transformation, care movement/ethics of care
Email
[email protected]

The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is one of the six major political foundations in the Federal Republic of Germany, tasked primarily with conducting political education both at home and abroad. The foundation is closely linked to Die Linke, a democratic socialist party in the German parliament.

Since its founding in 1990, the foundation’s work has adhered to the legacy of its namesake, German socialist leader Rosa Luxemburg, and stands for democratic socialism with an unwavering internationalist focus. The foundation is committed to a radical perspective emphasizing public awareness, education, and social critique. It stands in the tradition of the workers’ and women’s movements, as well as anti-fascism and anti-racism.

The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is a registered non-profit organization whose highest decision-making body is the Mitgliederversammlung, or General Assembly. Its work is supported by the dedication and commitment of a large number of volunteers across the country.

The foundation promotes a critical analysis of society and fosters networks of emancipatory political, social, and cultural initiatives around Germany. Internationally, it participates in cooperative development projects and advocates for a dialogue between the Global North and South conducted on equal footing. With the help of the Historical Centre for Democratic Socialism, it also documents significant historical events and achievements from across the political Left. Its Scholarship Department supports young scholars from Germany and the rest of the world with financial grants and other forms of assistance. Like other political foundations, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation seeks to develop and expand the concept of political education by emphasizing a critical analysis of society as our central task, further underlined by our namesake.

Based on the firm belief that social change requires a reflective confrontation with today’s capitalist society as a whole, the foundation strives to develop alternative concepts and approaches for a comprehensive process of social transformation enabling the creation of a more united and just society. Education and training in democratic socialist politics, analysis, information, and policy advice are therefore the foundation’s basic tasks, which we pursue and implement at the regional, national, and international levels.

Paradigmatic

Their work is based on questioning the capitalist paradigm as a whole and generating political alternatives: “based on the firm belief that social change requires a reflective confrontation with today’s capitalist society as a whole, the foundation strives to develop alternative concepts and approaches for a comprehensive process of social transformation enabling the creation of a more united and just society.”

Working towards radical socio-ecological transformation: “we view socio-ecological transformation as the first step on the path towards a radical restructuring of the predominant modes of production and living. We must overcome the ecologically destructive growth doctrine that lies at the heart of the capitalist mode of production, the ongoing economic exploitation of natural resources, and predatory extractivism.”

Integrated

Integration of social, economic, and cultural dimensions, which includes mental health, which could be linked to inner dimension: “We consider the full realization of social, economic, and cultural human rights — including the right to adequate food, adequate housing, access to education, the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the right to work, and safe and healthy working conditions — to be a prerequisite for the full realization of civil and political rights, and vice-versa.”

Also implicit in their recognition of the need for integration of external structures and processes, with also social processes/fabric: “We support the development of concepts and strategies that facilitate the ecologically sustainable conversion of energy supply networks and production processes. Crucially, this necessary ecological transformation must go hand in hand with a strengthening of social rights, and can only take place on the basis of democratic participation. Expanding democracy and increasing participation are therefore essential preconditions to the fundamental restructuring of the economy and society, and a transformation of the modes of production, consumption and the world of work.”

Implicit to a limited extent in their pluralistic, transdisciplinary approach to research and ‘transformative knowledge’ production, e.g. “The Institute for Critical Social Analysis stands in the tradition of a pluralistic Marxism, critical theory and praxis, as well as feminist and anti-racist critiques of capitalism and domination, and takes up the findings of modern empirical and theoretical social sciences. Our goal is to conduct social research geared towards emancipation and intervention. It is about a new type of transformative knowledge oriented towards emancipatory, self-empowering praxis—a format that processes, analyses, reflects, and strategically initiates or even organizes praxes of mosaic formation and left identities. In doing so we place ourselves between lines of division, and in a sense take a risk, moving on new terrain in search of answers because we know that we must leave that which we know behind.”

Pragmatic

One of their focus topics is “Social Alternatives”: https://www.rosalux.de/en/topics/social-alternatives. Their work in this area combines research with practical strategy: “The foundation’s political education work combines socialist transformation research and practice with alternative strategies relating to actually existing movements and forces—such as strengthening the public sphere, appropriating the commons, and expanding social infrastructures”

Key Publications

’- Building the Social-Ecological Future: Transformative Approaches in Vietnam (2022) - aims to contribute eight concrete examples from Vietnam to the global debate on how to implement a social-ecological transformation. It includes ideas and initiatives from scientists, youth workers, and people who have been working with nature and for a sustainable coexistence for decades. https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/Ausland/Ost-_und_S%C3%BCdostasien/SETPerspectivesVietnam.pdf

Additional Notes

They use the term ‘polycrisis’ in these 2 articles: