Every generation of socialists has to grapple with the key question: how can capitalism be abolished?
In this brilliant book Rosa Luxemburg explains why capitalism cannot be defeated through gradual reforms, and must instead be smashed in a revolutionary struggle. She also puts forward one of the earliest and clearest expositions of the Marxist attitude to the fight for reforms, the state, liberal democracy, and the character of the working class revolution.
These arguments are presented in counterposition to Edward Bernstein's 'evolutionary socialist' theories, which rejected Marxism in favor of trade unionism and parliamentary procedures. Contemporary readers will find his reformist arguments eerily familiar, so Luxemburg's insightful responses remain essential reading.