Sozialistische Alternative
Encyclopedia
Socialist Alternative is a German
Trotskyist
organization and the German section of the Committee for a Workers' International
(CWI).
The SAV identifies itself as a "revolutionary, socialist organization in the tradition of Marx
, Engels
, Lenin
, Trotsky
, Luxemburg
and Liebknecht
", and it "stands for resistance, solidarity and socialism".
the Social Democratic Party
(SPD) and its youth wing, Jusos
, to promote a revolutionary Marxist
platform. Like many leftist groups, the VORAN Group hoped that the economic slowdown of the 1970s would draw workers (especially Social Democrats) to the far left. The group was the German section of the Committee for a Workers' International
(CWI), which was led by Ted Grant
and the British Militant tendency
.
During the early 1980s membership of VORAN grew from fifty to 250 members, according to official sources. The group campaigned against German rearmament
, NATO activities and nuclear power plants
. The group remained ambivalent about the emergent Green Party
, which it regarded as a "middle-class
movement." The group also organized a national campaign in support of the British miners' strike
, and attempted to radicalize German industrial workers
and their unions.
Following German reunification
in 1990, the VORAN Group took part in the Antifa movement, which was growing in response to the reemergence of far-right
and Neonazi
groups. In October 1992, VORAN and other CWI affiliates formed Youth Against Racism in Europe (in German "Jugend gegen Rassismus in Europa", JRE).
After long-going debate in the organization, VORAN spllit from the SPD in 1994, claiming that the party had become too middle-class and bureaucratic. Some members chose to leave VORAN and remain in the SPD. In May 1994 the group was reorganized as Socialist Alternative. In May 2002 the SAV changed its publication's name from VORAN to Solidarität - Sozialistische Zeitung ("Solidarity: Socialist Newspaper"). It helped to organize the campaign Jugend gegen Krieg ("Youth Against War") following the start of the Iraq War.
SAV members became involved in the Labour and Social Justice Electoral List (WASG), following the latter group's split from the SPD in 2005. SAV activists stood as WASG in a number of elections. SAV member Lucy Redler
led the WASG list in the 2006 Berlin state election
. The WASG participation in this election was controversial, since it competed with the allied Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS).
In 2007 the WASG and the PDS merged to form the Left Party
. Many of the SAV's West German members joined the Left Party along with the western-based WASG. In September 2008 the group instructed its Berlin and East German branches to join the Left Party, as well. When Redler applied for membership in the party, it sparked controversy as party leadership member Klaus Ernst
objected to her membership and that of several other prominent SAV members since they were vocal critics of the WASG-PDS merger, and she had run in the 2006 Berlin elections against the PDS. The issue of Redler's membership even appeared in the pages of major newspapers, such as Der Spiegel
, Die Welt
and the Berliner Morgenpost
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Trotskyist
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
organization and the German section of the Committee for a Workers' International
Committee for a Workers' International
The Committee for a Workers' International is an international association of Trotskyist parties. Members include the Socialist Party of England and Wales, the Socialist Party , the Socialist Party the Democratic Socialist Movement in South Africa and Nigeria and groups using the name Socialist...
(CWI).
The SAV identifies itself as a "revolutionary, socialist organization in the tradition of Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, Engels
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...
, Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
, Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
, Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...
and Liebknecht
Karl Liebknecht
was a German socialist and a co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. He is best known for his opposition to World War I in the Reichstag and his role in the Spartacist uprising of 1919...
", and it "stands for resistance, solidarity and socialism".
History
The SAV originated in 1973 as a grouping around the monthly newspaper VORAN ("ahead"). The Voran Group enteredEntryism
Entryism is a political tactic by which an organisation or state encourages its members or agents to infiltrate another organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, or take over entirely...
the Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
(SPD) and its youth wing, Jusos
Young Socialists in the SPD
Young Socialists in the SPD is the youth organization of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .The Jusos see themselves as a socialist and feminist association within the SPD. Generally more left-wing in their approach to current events than their mother party, Jusos tend to criticize leading...
, to promote a revolutionary Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
platform. Like many leftist groups, the VORAN Group hoped that the economic slowdown of the 1970s would draw workers (especially Social Democrats) to the far left. The group was the German section of the Committee for a Workers' International
Committee for a Workers' International
The Committee for a Workers' International is an international association of Trotskyist parties. Members include the Socialist Party of England and Wales, the Socialist Party , the Socialist Party the Democratic Socialist Movement in South Africa and Nigeria and groups using the name Socialist...
(CWI), which was led by Ted Grant
Ted Grant
Edward "Ted" Grant , 9 July 1913 in Germiston, South Africa – 20 July 2006 in London) was a South African Trotskyist who spent most of his adult life in Britain...
and the British Militant tendency
Militant Tendency
The Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
.
During the early 1980s membership of VORAN grew from fifty to 250 members, according to official sources. The group campaigned against German rearmament
Rearmament
Rearmament is the third album by American singer-songwriter Happy Rhodes, released in 1986.-Overview:Rhodes' first four albums were not conceived and recorded as album releases, but were a gathering together of songs recorded at Cathedral Sound Studios from 1984 to 1986...
, NATO activities and nuclear power plants
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
. The group remained ambivalent about the emergent Green Party
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
, which it regarded as a "middle-class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
movement." The group also organized a national campaign in support of the British miners' strike
UK miners' strike (1984–1985)
The UK miners' strike was a major industrial action affecting the British coal industry. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the British trades union movement...
, and attempted to radicalize German industrial workers
Industrial labour
Industrial labor is labor in industry, mostly understood as manufacturing, but can include related service workers, such as cleaners and cooks.Industrial labor usually requires skills in crafts or engineering.-Industrial labor movement:...
and their unions.
Following German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990, the VORAN Group took part in the Antifa movement, which was growing in response to the reemergence of far-right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
and Neonazi
Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
groups. In October 1992, VORAN and other CWI affiliates formed Youth Against Racism in Europe (in German "Jugend gegen Rassismus in Europa", JRE).
After long-going debate in the organization, VORAN spllit from the SPD in 1994, claiming that the party had become too middle-class and bureaucratic. Some members chose to leave VORAN and remain in the SPD. In May 1994 the group was reorganized as Socialist Alternative. In May 2002 the SAV changed its publication's name from VORAN to Solidarität - Sozialistische Zeitung ("Solidarity: Socialist Newspaper"). It helped to organize the campaign Jugend gegen Krieg ("Youth Against War") following the start of the Iraq War.
SAV members became involved in the Labour and Social Justice Electoral List (WASG), following the latter group's split from the SPD in 2005. SAV activists stood as WASG in a number of elections. SAV member Lucy Redler
Lucy Redler
Lucy Redler is a German politician, Socialist Alternative activist, and member of the Left Party. From 2005 to 2007 Redler served on the executive committee of the Berlin section of the Labor and Social Justice List , and she was its chief candidate in the 2006 Berlin state elections...
led the WASG list in the 2006 Berlin state election
Berlin state election, 2006
The Berlin state election, 2006, was held on September 17, 2006, to elect members to the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin.After the elections the Social Democratic Party under Klaus Wowereit and the Left Party formed a coalition government....
. The WASG participation in this election was controversial, since it competed with the allied Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS).
In 2007 the WASG and the PDS merged to form the Left Party
The Left (Germany)
The Left , also commonly referred to as the Left Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The Left is the most left-wing party of the five represented in the Bundestag....
. Many of the SAV's West German members joined the Left Party along with the western-based WASG. In September 2008 the group instructed its Berlin and East German branches to join the Left Party, as well. When Redler applied for membership in the party, it sparked controversy as party leadership member Klaus Ernst
Klaus Ernst
Klaus Ernst is a left-wing German politician and was a leading member of the Labour and Social Justice Party and now The Left...
objected to her membership and that of several other prominent SAV members since they were vocal critics of the WASG-PDS merger, and she had run in the 2006 Berlin elections against the PDS. The issue of Redler's membership even appeared in the pages of major newspapers, such as Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
, Die Welt
Die Welt
Die Welt is a German national daily newspaper published by the Axel Springer AG company.It was founded in Hamburg in 1946 by the British occupying forces, aiming to provide a "quality newspaper" modelled on The Times...
and the Berliner Morgenpost
Berliner Morgenpost
Berliner Morgenpost is a German newspaper, based and mainly read in Berlin, where it is the second most read daily newspaper. Founded in 1898 by Leopold Ullstein, it was taken over by Axel Springer AG in 1959. The paper had a circulation of 145,556 issues in 2009, with an estimated 322,000 readers...
.