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Luxemburg and the Balance of Power in the 21st Century

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Rosa Luxemburg: A Permanent Challenge for Political Economy

Part of the book series: Luxemburg International Studies in Political Economy ((LISPE))

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Abstract

The chapter discusses the relevance of Rosa Luxemburg’s ideas contained in her Accumulation of Capital in understanding the shift in the balance of power inspired by the transformation of financial sectors from the second half of the 20th century until recent times. Luxemburg’s theory of the necessity of non-capitalist strata for capitalist development is reinterpreted to understand the emergent changes in power relations. It is argued that deepening social disparities have constituted a precondition for the establishment of finance-led capitalism in the last decades, which can be interpreted as parallel to Rosa Luxemburg’s theory of the necessity of non-capitalist accumulation serving as a field of exploitation for the development of capitalism.

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Acknowledgments

The author wishes to acknowledge Dr Judith Dellheim from the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation for her kind support and cooperation as well as Prof. Gary Dymski (University of Leeds), Prof. Giuseppe Fontana (University of Leeds) and Prof. Jan Toporowski (SOAS, University of London) for their advice and comments on the draft of this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, Leeds, UK

    Hanna K. Szymborska

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  1. Hanna K. Szymborska
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Berlin, Germany

    Judith Dellheim

  2. Free University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Frieder Otto Wolf

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Szymborska, H.K. (2016). Luxemburg and the Balance of Power in the 21st Century. In: Dellheim, J., Wolf, F. (eds) Rosa Luxemburg: A Permanent Challenge for Political Economy. Luxemburg International Studies in Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60108-7_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60108-7_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-60107-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-60108-7

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