Research & Projects
Institute for Critical Social Analysis
The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s Institute for Critical Social Analysis’s (ISA) main project focuses on researching socialistic transformation. It works towards “strategizing left politics and democratic-socialistic transformation of the current capitalistic society” (founding resolution from December 6, 2008).
The ISA aligns itself with traditionally critical, Marxist and feministic views on capitalism and governance, but also acts on results of modern studies of societies and political economy.
Currently, the ISA works on five main areas of research (see below) and holds numerous nationwide and international events. The institute works in close cooperation with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s scientific advisory council and many discussion groups. It also produces a significant number of publications for the foundation. Additionally, the institute sponsors and promotes many external projects, including
- the publication of new volumes of Marx-Engels-Works (MEW)
- the publication of the historical-critical dictionary of Marxism (HKWM)
- opinion research
- the “sächsische Längsschnittstudie” (P. Förster)
- Rolf Reissig`s Research and the Publication Project about Community Transformation,
- LinksNet (the largest web-based collection of German left-wing publications) and
- the cooperation with national and international research partners (Transform, TNI, EU-Project PRESOM).
The institute’s participation at international conferences (Social Forum meetings, large symposia from research journals, The Left Party conferences, etc.) plays a large role in its organisational discourse and networking.
Areas of Research of the ISA
The institute focuses on five areas of research:
- Analysis and criticism of capitalism, approaches to socio-ecological transformation (especially alternative forms of economic order and property dispersal)
- Fundamental questions about the historical and modern democratic socialism- important left-wing activists, their strategies and projects
- Democracy analysis and democratic remodelling of the economic system, the social state and public wealth, and the dynamics of property
- Strategies regarding the further development of the European Union, peace and security politics and international cooperation
- Identity and differences: theoretical strategies and political, socialistic and cultural participation of actors in the emancipation movement
Director: Prof. Dr. Michael Brie, brie@rosalux.de
