About
The Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung is an internationally operating, progressive nonprofit institution for civic education.
Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
Active since 1990, the foundation has been committed to the analysis of social processes and developments worldwide. In cooperation with organizations around the globe, it works on democratic and social participation, empowerment of disadvantaged groups, alternatives for economic and social development, conflict prevention, and peaceful conflict resolution. Its international activities aim to provide civic education through academic analyses, public programs, and projects conducted in partnership with partner institutions. To mentor and coordinate these projects, the foundation has established more than 20 regional offices and collaborates with hundreds of partner organizations, political bodies, and individuals in more than 80 countries. RLS was granted special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 2013.
Our Mission
The foundation’s New York Office, located at 275 Madison Avenue, opened its doors in 2012. It serves two major tasks: to address United Nations issues, including collaborating with people and political representatives from the Global South, and to work with North American (US and Canadian) progressives in universities, unions, social movements, progressive institutions, and think tanks. The office’s Director is Stefan Liebich. The New York Office is part of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung’s global network.
International Climate Justice Program
In 2022, the International Climate Justice Program opened in New York as part of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung’s Dialogue Programs, working with global social and political movements to support ongoing efforts to win climate justice. The program is directed by David Williams.
Rosa Luxemburg
The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is named after one of the great women of the 20th century.
Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) was a prominent advocate of democratic socialist thought and action in Europe. She opposed the butchery of the 1914–1918 World War with all her strength. She and Karl Liebknecht were the most important supporters of internationalist and anti-militarist positions within the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She was a passionate and convincing critic of capitalism, and it was from this critique that she drew the strength for revolutionary action. She welcomed the Russian Revolution with hope, but, as a revolutionary democrat, remained critical and alert, and had the foresight to condemn the Bolsheviks’ dictatorial policies.
Rosa Luxemburg belonged to disadvantaged, often persecuted minorities throughout her life. On the one hand, this fate was determined by her birth: she was Jewish, and although she had no connection to religion, she did not escape anti-Semitism. On the other hand, it was equally determined by her will to lead an independent life, contrary to the narrow ideas of her time. Rosa Luxemburg was an academic who earned a doctorate at a time when hardly any women attended university. She was also one of the few women active in politics, and left-wing parties were not free of contemporary prejudices against women who entered the public sphere.
Rosa Luxemburg never left anyone unimpressed. She defended her convictions uncompromisingly and with a powerful voice. With human warmth and great charisma, she was able to win over anyone who was prepared to engage with her without prejudice. But those who did not feel that they were up to her level tended to react with fear.
Rosa Luxemburg was a martyr of the German Revolution of November 1918. She was killed by uniformed murderers on 15 January 1919 — members of the same milieu that would later openly support the handover of power to the Nazis.
Rosa Luxemburg’s implacable struggle against war and the radicalism with which she insisted on the combination of political freedom and social equality have lost none of their intensity to this day.
The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is committed to the legacy of this great democratic socialist.
Check out Rosa Remix, our book on the life and legacy of Rosa Luxemburg.
Read Red Rosa, a graphic novel about Rosa Luxemburg by Kate Evans, published by Verso Books in collaboration with the RLS–NYC. Watch our video about The Making of Red Rosa here.
Watch Video of Kathleen Chalfant reading from The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg.
Download The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg Published in 2021 with the support of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
Contact Us
Email:
info.nyc@rosalux.org
Press Contact:
Stefan Liebich
stefan.liebich@rosalux.org
Mailing Address:
Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Inc.
275 Madison Avenue, Suite 2114
New York, NY 10016, USA