Abstract
Abstract This article draws on archival research to recover the legacy of Luise Kautsky – journalist, editor, translator, politician and wife of Karl Kautsky – who has been overlooked as a leading member of the socialist movement. First, by adopting a feminist historical lens to reveal the unacknowledged intellectual labour of women, the article reassesses Luise Kautsky’s relationship to Karl Kautsky and his writings. The evidence suggests that Luise Kautsky was essential to the development, editing and dissemination of the work of Karl Kautsky. Second, the article claims Luise Kautsky played an invaluable practical role as the hub of an international network of socialist scholars and activists, acting as mediator, translator and middle point through her extensive correspondence and by hosting members of this network at her house. Finally, the article recovers her labour as a writer, editor and translator and calls for renewed attention to her as an independent figure of historical analysis.
Highlights
On 1 May 1928, in the Social-Democratic monthly newspaper, Die Frau, Marianne Pollak paid tribute to a leading member of the socialist movement, via free accessMuldoon a woman she described as a ‘living tradition of the [Socialist] International’.1 The article continues: There are people whose work lies in their essence
This article draws on archival research to recover the legacy of Luise Kautsky – journalist, editor, translator, politician and wife of Karl Kautsky – who has been overlooked as a leading member of the socialist movement
The evidence suggests that Luise Kautsky was essential to the development, editing and dissemination of the work of Karl Kautsky
Summary
On 1 May 1928, in the Social-Democratic monthly newspaper, Die Frau, Marianne Pollak paid tribute to a leading member of the socialist movement,. In addition to working with her husband, Luise Kautsky began writing articles for journals, newspapers and magazines, focusing on women in the socialist movement and covering other political topics. Luise played an important role within the socialist movement narrating the stories of prominent women within the movement and focusing on their personal lives and intellectual contributions.7 She was a nodal point in the social network of the movement, hosting hundreds of members at her house and maintaining political and personal relationships through letters and postcards.. Adopting a feminist historical lens to uncover the unacknowledged intellectual labour of women, in particular the wives of ‘great men’, the article reassesses her relationship to Karl Kautsky and his writings It argues that the two worked within a division of labour on a single intellectual project, a project to which Luise contributed a significant share of the work. The article aims to bring to light the intellectual labour and achievements of a leading member of the socialist movement who suffered misogyny and discrimination in her own time and has been since excluded from histories of the movement
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