Fundi (politics)
Encyclopedia
Fundis is short for fundamentalist
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines usually understood as a reaction against Modernist theology. The term "fundamentalism" was originally coined by its supporters to describe a specific package of theological beliefs that developed into a movement within the...

s. The term was used for a faction
Political faction
A political faction is a grouping of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. The individuals...

 within the German Green Party. The faction was formed in conflict to the Realo-faction within their party. The term has also been applied to similar conflicts.

General meaning

The abbreviation fundi is a label applied to members who tend towards a fundamentalist interpretation of its common ideology (e.g. 'green' values), as opposed to the more pragmatic realism
Realism (international relations)
In the study of international relations, Realism or political realism prioritizes national interest and security over ideology, moral concerns and social reconstructions...

 of the realo alternative. Other terms for green fundis are wild greens
Wild Greens
Wild Greens are a youth movement of the Greens, usually associated with one of the Green Parties.It began in 1997 as a semi-autonomous wing of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, committed to direct action and taking risks of bodily harm to protect the environment. The Green Party's youth arm...

 or deep greens
Deep ecology
Deep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the...

. They tend towards veganism
Veganism
Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...

, a strong animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...

 approach and an aversion to traditional political methods, preferring to maintain decentralized grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...

 organization over a more centralized system of governance.

German Greens

In the 1980s and 1990s, a conflict between the fundis and the realos with the German Green Party arose. While the realos, the group around Joschka Fischer
Joschka Fischer
Joseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens. He served as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany in the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005...

, were in favour of moderate policies and cabinet cooperation, the fundis opposed cabinet cooperation. The Fundis were composed of deep greens and eco-socialist
Eco-socialism
Eco-socialism, green socialism or socialist ecology is an ideology merging aspects of Marxism, socialism, green politics, ecology and alter-globalization...

s. They did not only oppose cabinet cooperation, but were also in favour of strict term limit
Term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...

s.

The term was first used within the Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...

n Green party. In the 1982 state elections the party gained 8% of vote, and neither the SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

 or the CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

 had a majority of their own. In their program Hessen Greens had claimed that there was a "fundamental opposition between the anti-life and anti-democratic politics of the SPD, CDU and FDP." Those who had opposed a coalition with the SPD were called fundis. The Greens tolerated an SPD-minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...

 for three years and in 1985 they entered the coalition, a victory for the Realos. Joschka Fischer became their minister.

In the same year the Realos also won a victory on the federal level when the party congress adopted a motion, saying that the Greens could "use the full bandwidth of parliamentary possibilities, ranging from opposition to single-party government". At the end of the 1980s the fundis founded the Left Forum. In 1990 a group of prominent eco-socialists left the party, in 1991 a group of deep greens also left. Some of those joined the PDS
Left Party (Germany)
The Party of Democratic Socialism was a democratic socialist political party active in Germany from 1989 to 2007. It was the legal successor to the Socialist Unity Party , which ruled the German Democratic Republic until 1990. From 1990 through to 2005, the PDS had been seen as the left-wing...

 and others founded their own party.

In 1998 the Greens joined the cabinet, a final victory for the realos. In the following years the division between realos and fundis became less important .

Other uses

In the Green Party of Canada
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...

 and the Flemish
Politics of Flanders
Flanders is both a cultural community and an economic region within the Belgian state, and has significant autonomy.Historically, the contemporary Flemish community grew out of the Catholic southern part of the medieval XVII provinces of the Low Countries. The contemporary Belgian Flanders area...

 party Agalev-party the term was also used to describe similar conflicts. In France
Politics of France
France is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, in which the President of France is head of state and the Prime Minister of France is the head of government, and there is a pluriform, multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is...

 conflicts between 'fundi' and 'realo' led to several splits within the Green Party
The Greens (France)
The Greens were a Green political party to the centre-left of the political spectrum in France. They had officially been in existence since 1984, but their spiritual roots could be traced as far back as René Dumont’s candidacy for the presidency in 1974...

, resulting in a 'pleiade' of green parties.
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