November 24, 2020

30 years Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung

Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung

Another world is possible and it needs places where it can be thought (video in German language only)



An institution that has been existing for 30 years is easily taken for granted, ignoring all the effort, all the energy that it takes to maintain it and to fill it with life. Hundreds of publications and over 2000 events every year.

The foundation is the source of countless ideas that are born here that are then interwoven with others and to whole streams of discourse and knowledge. It is a place that is anything but self-evident. A space, a structure, a widely ramified network filled with the most diverse practices. All of this must be able to withstand or shape change, everything must be ready to reinvent itself again and again in order to keep its finger on the pulse of time.

Due to the high number of activities on the most diverse topics, it is important to focus. And it is clear to the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung what it must focus on: the fight against right-wing extremism, the fight against climate change and the fight for social justice. And it is also clear that these focal points are not simply topics, but the big future questions of humanity.

The challenges could not be more complex. Meaningful proposals to meet the challenges can only be developed through expertise from many different areas. In the end, these proposals must result in great visions, because without a good plan the left cannot succeed in the coming struggles. The Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung will pay full attention to the development of these plans.

From Rostock to Munich, from Duisburg to Leipzig, full-time and voluntary workers work in 16 foundations throughout Germany. More than 200 people are employed at the foundation’s headquarters in Berlin. At more than 25 locations worldwide, the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung and its staff implement projects in over 80 countries with hundreds of partner organisations.

An important pillar of the foundation’s work is the awarding of study scholarships. Currently, over 1000 young academics are being sponsored, 64 percent of whom come from families without an academic background. All these activities are difficult to capture in pictures – the important thing is that they exist. Whether the analyses of the Institute for Social Analysis, the events of the Academy for Political Education, the research of the Historical Centre or the worldwide work of the Centre for International Dialogue: only the overall view of the work of the different areas of the left-wing foundation gives the overall picture.

How can one still think and talk about a socialist society 30 years after the end of the GDR? What does it take to analyse, understand or overcome capitalism? How can a growth-driven economy, which is slowly destroying the planet, still be stopped? Only the thoughts, research and debate of many can provide the answers needed to make history.

Even after 30 years, an institution like the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung cannot be taken for granted. We should never lose sight of why it is urgently needed: because another world is possible and places are needed where this world can be thought.

www.rosalux.de