Geschlecht und Revolution

Panel discussion with Luise Meier (Berlin) and Klaus Theweleit (Freiburg) as part of the conference 1923 – Sattelzeit der Revolution. Umbrüche in Politik, Kultur und radikaler Gesellschaftskritik

Moderation: Patrick Eiden-Offe

1923 also marked a significant turning point in Leftist theory and practice: In light of the ultimate failure of the revolution and fascist coups,the Left must prepare for non- or counterrevolutionary times. With regard to theory formation, these circumstances do bear a productive effect. They result in a complex and diverse debate; with Lukács’ History and Class Consciousness and Korsch’s Marxismus und Revolution, two books are published that would later be read as founding documents of “western” or “Neo-Marxism.” By contrast, however, Leftist political practice is being marginalized, becomes part of the parliamentary system, or submits to Moscow’s dictates. The fascist movement takes the lead.

What role do gender, the body, or desire play in this paradoxical situation? We want to discuss these questions with Klaus Theweleit and Luise Meier. Almost half a century ago, in his Male Fantasies, Klaus Theweleit demonstrated that the counterrevolution’s victory and the rise of fascism must also be understood as a gender-political and psychodynamic movement. But does the “martial man” always lean towards the Right? How do the gender and body models of the Left look like? Luise Meier argues that there were also openings and softenings in the name of the Proletkult, no matter how delicate and ephemeral these may have been. Throughout the past century, the Left has repeatedly and quite contradictorily referred to the revolutionary Sattelzeit of 1923. Thus, we want to not only focus on the historical perspective, but also look at our present and the changes that took place throughout the past 100 years.

Klaus Theweleit was born in 1942. He was active in the SDS (Socialist German Students’ Union). His two-volume work Male Fantasies (Männerphantasien) which was published in 1977/78 with Roter Stern/Stroemfeld, revolutionized the theory debate in the FRG. With his book series Das Buch der Könige (The Book of Kings) and Pocahontas, he recorded the histories and counter-histories of male and colonial rule in the arts, culture, and politics. Since 2019, his works are published with Matthes & Seitz Berlin.

Luise Meier was born in 1985. She works as a freelance writer, theater maker, dramatic advisor, and performer. In 2018, she published her book MRX Maschine with Matthes & Seitz Berlin. She currently works on an essay titled Proletkult vs. neoliberale Denkpanzer (Proletkult vs. neoliberal think tanks) as well as on a utopian near future/science fiction novel project which will be published in 2024.

A collaboration between the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, the Helle Panke e.V., and the ZfL.

Fig. above: “Shouldering the Imitation Ox,” in: Richard Kearton: Wild Nature’s Ways. Cassell 1909