Young Democrats - Young Left (Germany)
A long history in brief
The Jungdemokraten (Young Democrats) were founded in 1919 in the "Republic of Weimar" as the youth-organisation of the German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei - DDP), a mainly left-wing liberal-democratic party. Since about 1923, the right-wing in Germany arose, and the DDP, too, became more and more a nationalistic, manchester-liberal party. Consequently, Jungdemokraten left the DDP and became the youth-organization of the Radical-Democratic Party, founded by DDP-dissidents and theoretically linked to the scandinavian radical-democracy movement.In 1933, Jungdemokraten were forbidden by the fascists.
In 1949, they re-emerged as the youth-organization of the Liberal Party (Freie Demokratische Partei) of the federal republic, which by then united both a civil-rights-oriented and an economy-oriented wing of liberalism.
During the large anti-authoritarian students'-movement of 1967/68, their positions entered into the work and ideas of Jungdemokraten, which lead to serious conflicts with the "motherparty", and separation was only a matter of time. It occurred in 1982, when the Liberal Party left the coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) in favour of the Conservatives (CDU/CSU).
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, a new left-wing youth-organization in the former German democratic Republic, the Marxist Youth Association/Young Left, was founded by members of civil-rights-, youth- and grassroots-initiatives. After long negotiations, they merged with Jungdemokraten from the west to become Young Democrats-Young Left. Since this time the critique of the political economy has taken a broader part in our theoretical fundaments.
So we're still independent from any party, even though our members may also join one. Parlamentary we cooperate with both the Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) and, especially in former eastern germany, with the Democratic Socialists (Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus - PDS). Beyond parliamental action we cooperate with organisations of the "New Left" and parts of the Autonomious Movement.
Political positions:
Young Democrats-Young Left campaign for the emancipation of every single person and for a society in which self-determination is possible. Liberation from domination and oppression and finding ways to an emancipatoric society are two sides of the same medal. Freedom must not end with voting, working and consuming in a society dominated by capitalism where social injustice is integral and necessary. Freedom cannot simply mean to adapt at a peculiar ideal which is propagated to be normal or general. Freedom begins where such concepts dissolve, where everyone can be different without fear.
Young Democrats-Young Left focus on extraparliamentary work, as in civil-rights-movements, students'-politics, anti-racist and anti-fascist and peace-initiatives. Our organisation has about 10.000 members with are structured in about 70 regional action groups all over Gremany. The main work of the nationwide body is to organize camps, congresses, international exchanges, continual theoretical research on peculiar subjects, and campaigns.
The main topics of our work
Anti-Nationalism:Mobilizing people against racism and nationalism in Germany. Working for a non-repressive society open for immigrants and refugees. Support resitance against the world trade system and the imperialistic world order.
Civil Rights:
Against repressive legislation and actual repression by executive agencies. Monitoring the violation of civil-rights and lobbying for their expansion.
Anti-discrimination-work:
Mobilizing against daily discrimination of women and girls as well as stereotypes or restrictive abortion-legislation.
Anti-militarism:
For the abolishment of the German Army and the weapon-industry, against ideological mobilisation and the conservative aim of Germany as a militarist lead-nation.
Drug-politics:
Against the repression and criminalization of drug-users, against the shift of political concerns into medical notions, against the racist stigmatization of and legal raid on dealers in Western Europe. Against the ideological use of drugs as a reason for imperialistic intervention illegal markets
Bio-politics: Theoretical critique against bio- and genetic technology and its racist implications, such as a neo-social-darwinism.
Students' politics:
Against restrictive organisation of an emancipative function: learning. For a self-determination of topics and setting; against mere economic functionalisation of education. For free access to all education as a measure to counterbalance social discrimination.
Critique of Capitalism: Showing structural links and dynamics of a world system that is based on exploitation and the poverty of many for the wealth of a few.
Internationalism:
For a greater conscience of the international relation of wealth and poverty, as one step towards a critique of the exploitative capitalist regime. International exchange with our partner-organisations and in the "European Network of Democratic Young Left".