Germany
Olaf Krostitz
Die Linke’s successful campaign in East Berlin epitomizes the changes sweeping through the party
By the weekend before the German federal election, it had become clear that something big was underway in Berlin’s Lichtenberg district. On Friday afternoon, hundreds of people — members and non-members alike, students and workers, ranging in age from 18 to 80 — assembled in the event hall of the VORWÄRTS housing cooperative in Friedrichsfelde for Die Linke’s final campaign rally with the district’s direct candidate, the newly appointed party chairwoman ...
read more "Another Way of Doing Politics"
read more "Another Way of Doing Politics"
MARTIN HEINLEIN / DIE LINKE via flickr
Version française ci-dessous
Co-chairs Ines Schwerdtner and Jan van Aken on the party’s remarkable comeback
When we announced our candidacy for the chair of Die Linke last summer, the situation seemed hopeless: the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) had split from the party and we were limping into the state elections in eastern Germany. Last Sunday, only six months later, we won just under 8.8 percent in the federal elections. That was no coincidence.
The party congress in Halle already signalled the beginning of a transformation. The mood was great, ...
read more "How Die Linke Turned the Tide"
read more "How Die Linke Turned the Tide"
imago images/Achille Abboud
Version française ci-dessous
The 2025 German federal election, held some eight months ahead of schedule following the collapse of the governing coalition late last year, largely proceeded as expected, with losses for the coalition partners, gains for the centre-right, and big gains for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Only the impressive result for Die Linke proved to be a real surprise.
At 82.5 percent (+6.2 percent), voter turnout was significantly higher than in the last federal elections (2021: ...
read more "The 2025 German Election: First Impressions and Implications"
read more "The 2025 German Election: First Impressions and Implications"
Sahra Wagenknecht’s decision to leave Die Linke brings clarity, but at a high cost
Following years of turmoil, a resolution has finally been reached inside Die Linke, the democratic socialist party in the German parliament closely linked to the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Sahra Wagenknecht, previously Die Linke’s parliamentary co-speaker and one of its best-known faces, announced her resignation from the party on Monday together with nine other MPs. They will now form a new organization, Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), to prepare the launch of a new party in early 2024....
read more "“A Heavy Blow”"
read more "“A Heavy Blow”"
Event ReportOn 8-9 June 2023 the Brussels Office of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung (RLS) hosted a workshop in Malmö to facilitate the exchange of experiences and strategies between several left-wing parties grappling with the issue of security policy, particularly in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The event was held face-to-face and invitation-only to guarantee an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality to participants.
The workshop brought together 20 party activists and decision-makers from the political left in Sweden, ...
read more "“Security and the Left” – Impact Workshop"
read more "“Security and the Left” – Impact Workshop"
Voting on 12 February will determine whether the city continues to shift away from neoliberalism or tacks back to the rightOn 12 February, the September 2021 elections for the Berlin House of Representatives and district councils will be repeated due to irregularities in several constituencies, a little over a year after the September 2021 election resulted in a clear majority for the incumbent “red-green-red” coalition between the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, and the socialist party Die Linke that has governed ...
read more "Berlin’s Repeat Elections and the Social Democrats’ Dilemma"
read more "Berlin’s Repeat Elections and the Social Democrats’ Dilemma"
In June 2022, the Brussels Office of Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung hosted a workshop in Copenhagen to better understand and compare the central issues, experiences and strategies of left-wing parties’ participation in, or support of, governments in the region. The event was face-to-face and by-invitation only to guarantee an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality to participants.
The workshop brought together 30 party activists and decision-makers from among the political left in Sweden, Denmark and Germany.[1] Participation ...
read more "Impact workshop: “The Left in Power”, Copenhagen 9-10 June"
read more "Impact workshop: “The Left in Power”, Copenhagen 9-10 June"
Germany’s new “traffic light coalition” promises a little bit of progress on crucial issues, but not much elseThe results of the recent German federal election have shifted the country’s political landscape. On 24 November, the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens, and the Free Democrats (FDP) presented their coalition agreement. There is no single dominant party-political force in the new Bundestag holding more than one third of the seats, which means no single party will be able to prevent an amendment to the Constitution.
...
read more "There Will Be Change — But How Much and Where Will It Take Us?"
read more "There Will Be Change — But How Much and Where Will It Take Us?"
A reshuffling of the political centre and a disaster for the LeftLa version française est disponible pour téléchargement ci-dessous
The election to the twentieth session of the German parliament, the Bundestag, marked the end of 16 years of Angela Merkel’s chancellorship. Together with her administration, an upheaval in the party system has come to a temporary end: after the Social Democrats (SPD), the Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social union (CDU/CSU)—the last remaining old-style “people’s ...
read more "Breaking Down the 2021 German Federal Election"
read more "Breaking Down the 2021 German Federal Election"
Analysis and Strategy on Right-Wing PopulismThe book is available for download here!
Over the past decade, many countries have seen the rise and consolidation of support for right-wing populist movements and parties. This development is being increasingly reflected in parliaments and governments alike and now poses a serious challenge, both to parties of the left and to the values at the heart of liberal democracy.
For the past two years, the Copenhagen-based Democracy in Europe Organisation (DEO) has teamed up with the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Brussels Office (RLS) on a ...
read more "Don’t Panic"
read more "Don’t Panic"