Peoples Dispatch: “The 31st Rosa Luxemburg Conference took place in Berlin on January 10 amid extensive preparations for war and armament pursued by the conservative government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Thousands of participants gathered to challenge this militarization agenda, with trade unionists, youth associations, media organizations, and left-wing parties offering a sharp critique of the current moment.

Among the speakers were UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, trade unionist Cinzia Della Porta of the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), Robert Saleem Holbrook of the US-based Abolitionist Law Center, and media workers from Canal Red. But while the conference maintained a strong internationalist character – with participants from around the world stressing solidarity with Palestine, Venezuela, and Cuba – a significant portion of the program focused on developments within Germany itself.

As economist Jörg Goldberg noted, the German government, like others across the Global North, is responding to threats to Western dominance by pursuing an increasingly aggressive and militarized strategy, one that comes at the expense of social security and labor rights. The consequences of this policy line are already being felt by the working class, with growing awareness of the dangers involved in certain parts of the population. Notably, students and young people have recently emerged at the forefront of resistance to the war agenda, driven at least in part by the government’s plans to reintroduce military conscription.”

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