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Internationale R o s a - L u x e m b u r g - G e s e l l s c h a f t Die „Internationale Rosa-Luxemburg-Gesellschaft“ ist kein fest organisierter, eingetragener Verein, sondern eine seit 40 Jahren bestehende informelle Vereinigung internationaler Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler, ohne formale Satzung und Mitgliedsbeitrag, ein Netzwerk zur Rosa-Luxemburg-Forschung, das alle zwei bis vier Jahre in verschiedenen Städten der Welt (bisher: Paris [2x], Tokio [2x], Beijing [Peking], Tampere [Finnland], Chicago (2x), Warschau, Hamburg, Berlin [3x], Bochum, Zürich [2x], Guangzhou [Canton], Moskau, Seoul, Bodø (Norwegen) Konferenzen mit dem thematischen Schwerpunkt Rosa Luxemburg veranstaltet.
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Die erste wissenschaftliche Tagung der Gesellschaft fand im September 1980 in Zürich statt, und zwar auf Initiative des japanischen Rosa-Luxemburg-Forschers Prof. Dr. Narihiko ITO (Chuo-Universität Tokio), der danach diesem Netzwerk von Wissenschaftlern als Präsident oder Vorsitzender vorstand. Ehrenamtlicher Sekretär war über lange Jahre der 1991 verstorbene Züricher Buchhändler Theodor Pinkus (Stiftung "Studienbibliothek zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung") und danach bis 1998 der Schweizer Historiker Prof. Dr. Markus Bürgi in Zürich, von Januar 1999 bis März 2023 Ottokar Luban (Berlin) und danach in Gemeinschaft Dr. Phlipp Kufferath (Köln) und Prof. Dr. Frank Jacob (.Bodø, Norwegen).
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Vor der “Perestroika” in der Sowjetunion und der „Wende“ in der DDR war es ein wichtiges Anliegen der "Internationalen Rosa-Luxemburg-Gesellschaft", eine Brücke zu den Historikerinnen und Historikern der osteuropäischen Länder und der damaligen DDR zu bilden, was gerade beim Thema "Rosa Luxemburg" vor dem politischen Umschwung auch zu Schwierigkeiten mit offiziellen Stellen dieser Staaten führte. So scheiterte noch im Januar 1989 die Absicht, die Konferenz in Ost- und West-Berlin durchzuführen, an dem Widerstand der DDR-Behörden, so dass nur in West-Berlin getagt werden konnte. Beachtlich war immer die starke Konferenzbeteiligung aus Asien, vor allem aus Japan, dessen Historiker/innen ein großes Interesse an der Geschichte der europäischen Arbeiterbewegung zeigen. Auch aus Südkorea, aus China und aus Indien beteiligten sich Forscher/innen an den Konferenzen. Schon 1994 war es möglich, eine Rosa-Luxemburg-Konferenz in Beijing (Peking) zu veranstalten. Die Teilnehmerliste der letzten Konferenzen in Tampere (1998), Zürich (2000), Bochum (2002), 2004 in Guangzhou (Canton, Südchina), Tokio (2007), Berlin (2009), Moskau (2011), Paris (2013), Seoul (2015), Chicago (1918), Berlin (2021) und 2023 in Bodø, Norwegen umfasste mit Wissenschaftler/innen aus Argentinien, Brasilien, China, Frankreich, Deutschland, Finnland, Indien, Japan, Kroatien, Litauen, Mexiko, Norwegen, Polen, Österreich, Russland, Schweden, Schweiz, Serbien, Spanien, Südafrika, Südkorea, Türkei, Ungarn und den USA eine breite Palette von Herkunftsländern.
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International Rosa Luxemburg Society Founded in 1980 by Prof. Nariko Ito (Chuo University Tokyo)
To the Members of the Advisory Board
June 12, 2018
Dear colleagues,
You all know of the great tragic loss which we had to experience 10 days before Christmas last year. Our co-chair William (Bill) A. Pelz died in his home city Chicago after a stroke in the middle of his organizational work for our Chicago conference planned for April 2018.
We had already a great number of registrations and already a good venue with the Union Electrical Workers Hall and also a generous financial support by the Rosa-Stiftung-Stiftung . Therefore after discussions especially with Peter Hudis in Chicago (who originally was not involved in the conference preparations due to his duties as chief editor of RL’s Complete Works) we decided not to cancel the conference.
Due to the great help of our Chicago friends Peter Hudis and Ed Tapia and the amazing organizational support from Ethan Earle and Albert Scharenberg, Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, office New York City, and the many precious contributions with new aspects of Rosa Luxemburg research by the participants with emphasis on gender and economic issues the conference became a success (see program schedule attached). We were especially glad about the participation of so many young scholars. In the next weeks the conference papers will be put on our website http://www.internationale-rosa-luxemburg-gesellschaft.de/html/chicago_2018.html.
Highlights were two impressive keynote speeches one by Drucilla Cornell on “The Contemporary Significance of Rosa Luxemburg’s Socialist Feminism” with many interesting aspects and the second by Helen Boak on “Women in the German Revolution, 1918/19” with detailed images of those rare female militants in the German revolutionary mass movements of 1818/19. One more highlight was an International Plenary where scholars – presenters at the conference – reported and discussed “Chances for Socialist Solutions of Current World Problems?” based on the situation in their home countries Brazil, China, Croatia, Canada, and India together with a Chicago shop steward of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) presenting the Chicago bus drivers .
Very moving at the beginning of the conference were memorial speeches for Narihiko Ito (who passed away in November 2017) and for William (Bill) Pelz.
At the conference we could find fortunately an excellent successor for Bill Pelz as co-chair for North America. Dr. Ingo Schmidt from the Athabasca University in Canada is willing to fulfill this task. He is well reputed as an expert on economic issues with publications e. g. on Rosa Luxemburg’s economic works. I myself informed the long time friends of our society at the conference that I have to give up my function as voluntary secretary of our society latest time being in the beginning of 2019 due to health/age problems. I suggested a solution with 2 co-secretaries with one in the UK that is Dr. Rory Castle Jones from the Swansea University in Wales and another one from Germany whom I still am looking for. Meanwhile I already will cooperate with Rory who has for years an English Rosa Luxemburg blog (https://rosaluxemburgblog.wordpress.com/ ) and has published his PhD in 2016 on the identity, family and background of Rosa Luxemburg.
After the great conference in Paris 2013 the International Rosa Luxemburg Society had passed difficult years due to the sickness, the rapidly worsening health and following the death of Prof. Narihiko Ito the founder and meritorious long time chairman (since its foundation in 1980). The Chicago conference 2018 has shown that we succeeded in keeping his legacy alive and can continue his work. You received already as Ccc… another e-mail to the participants of the Chicago conference where I gave some information on our considerations for the next event of our society in January 2019.
In solidarity,
Ottokar Luban (also on behalf of the chairmen Sobhanlal Datta Gupta, Pablo Slavin and Ingo Schmidt)
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