Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
Worth, O
2012
January
International Politics
Accumulating the critical spirit: Rosa Luxemburg and critical IPE
Published
()
Optional Fields
Luxemburg dialectical materialism internationalism accumulation of capital critical IPE GRAMSCI
49
136
153
This article introduces Rosa Luxemburg's work on dialectics and the international and argues that its ontological foundations have been neglected within critical International Political Economy (IPE). Whereas other critical Marxists such as Gramsci have played key roles in instigating critical enquiry, Luxemburg's work has largely gone neglected. Although this article acknowledges some serious shortcomings in some of the 'left infantilism' inherent within her work, it nevertheless argues that Luxemburg's dialectical ontology significantly contrasted with the orthodoxy that was emerging from Marxist circles at the time. This article explores some of these and argues that the dialectical method that Luxemburg employed to understanding the international provides us with a new avenue for critical IPE to pursue. In particular, it suggests that Luxemburg's articulation of critique provides us with fresh openings that both compliment and add to neo-Gramscian and neo-Polanyian accounts, and allows us to understand trends and practices within the global political economy in new critical ways. International Politics (2012) 49, 136-153. doi:10.1057/ip.2011.44; published online 13 January 2012
10.1057/ip.2011.44
Grant Details