Introduction: Transmitting Rosa Luxemburg

In a 1894 essay originally published in Polish in Sprawa Robotnicza, entitled 'What are the Origins of May Day?', Marxist intellectual and activist Rosa Luxemburg made some thoughtful comments on the significance of International Workers' Day. She explained how the origins of the celebrations dated back to 1889, when the International Workers' Congress decided that 'the workers of all lands would demonstrate together for the eight-hour day on May 1, 1890'.¹ That decision would play a very important role in subsequent history, even though the delegates who agreed on that demonstration, at that time, could not predict the future resonance of their undertaking. As Luxemburg wrote:

No one spoke of a repetition of the holiday for the next years. Naturally no one could predict the lightning-like way in which this idea would succeed and how quickly it would be adopted by the working classes … The first of May demanded the introduction of the eight-hour day. But even after this goal was reached, May Day was not given up. As long as the struggle of the workers against the bourgeoisie and the ruling class continues, as long as all demands are not met, May Day will be the yearly expression of these demands. And, when better days dawn, when the working class of the world has won its deliverance then too humanity will probably celebrate May Day in honor of the bitter struggles and the many sufferings of the past

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Luxemburg's reflections on May Day are important because they reveal a deep and thought-provoking way of thinking about memory and cultural transmission. They indicate, suggestively, that struggles taking place in the past sometimes surprise us, in a 'lightning-like way', by their anticipatory force in inspiring struggles of the future, forms of resistance that have not yet taken shape. The event of May Day-the first strike, the first demonstration-turned out to be less of a one-off event and more like a 'continuing institution'. Most importantly, the unique historical occurrence lived on after its own success, becoming a recurring historical commemoration even after the objective of the first demonstration had been reached. If May Day is still significant today, this happens first and foremost because it is a way of remembering the first event, the spark that initiated the struggle for bettering the conditions of workers. But it is not just a question of memory. In fact, May Day is still recurring because the struggle continues: 'as long as all demands are not met, May Day will be the yearly expression of these demands'. May Day thus keeps a channel open between past and present, revealing that multiple times are part of a common, unbroken history of struggle and resistance, a history that has not yet ended.. Celebrating May Day means fighting in the present, acknowledging that an internationalist, organised, class struggle is still imperative. It means stating that oppression continues, and so does resistance. Intriguingly, Rosa Luxemburg also noted that the significance of May Day would become a form of honouring the 'bitter struggles' and sufferings of the past only when, in a still unforeseen future, pre-history would become history and the world would be freed from the subjugation of the oppressed classes.

Rosa Luxemburg's reflections on May Day suggest a mode of cultural transmission that could be applied to her own life, thought and politics, in a similarly passionate and inspired way. Indeed, it might be suggested that Rosa Luxemburg will be honoured, remembered, and celebrated as a figure from the past only when, in a future still to-come, the goals of social justice, peace and equality that she fought for are realised. As long as these struggles continue, Rosa Luxemburg's oeuvre cannot be safely locked back in the past and peacefully 'remembered'. As long as bitter struggles and widespread suffering continue, she is still living, a living substance that is part of the present and can inspire political engagement. The wider meaning of declaring Rosa Luxemburg our contemporary, then, is that the objectives she struggled for are still to-come, and the forms of violence...