Socialist Alternative Politics

The Socialist Alternative Politics (Dutch: Socialistische Alternatieve Politiek, or SAP) is a Trotskyist political group in the Netherlands without parliamentary representation.

Socialist Alternative Politics
Socialistische Alternatieve Politiek
Founded1972
Split fromPacifist Socialist Party
HeadquartersLombokstraat 40, 1094 AL Amsterdam
NewspaperGrenzeloos
Youth wingRebel (1980-2000)
IdeologySocialism
Marxism
Trotskyism
Political positionFar-left
National affiliationSP
International affiliationFourth International[1]
Website
https://www.grenzeloos.org/

History

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Early roots of the SAP

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The SAP traces back its roots to the beginning of the Trotskyist movement in the Netherlands. In 1945 the Revolutionary Communist Party was founded as the Dutch member of the Fourth International.[2] However the party was unsuccessful as an independent party and was disbanded in 1952. The former RCP members opted for an entryist tactic in the PvdA. They formed the Social Democratic Centre (SDC) as an internal pressure group to move the PvdA leftwards. However the SDC membership was expelled from the PvdA in 1959.[3]

This severely weakened the Dutch section of the Fourth International. Their entryist strategy was expanded to include other leftwing parties and organizations, mainly the Socialist Workers Party (Dutch: Socialistische Werkerspartij), the Workers' Youth Central (youth movement of the NVV ) and later the Pacifist Socialist Party (PSP).[4] Within the PSP it formed the Proletarian Left (PL) group. The PL and the PSP leadership clashed on the formation of a broad progressive coalition together with the PvdA and the progressive Political Party of Radicals (PPR). The PL was opposed of the participation of the PSP in this coalition, which eventually led to a split between PL and the PSP in 1972.[5]

From Proletarian Left to Socialist Workers Party

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The PL decided to form a new openly Trotskyist "revolutionary workers' vanguard party". At this point the PL had about 300 members.[6] The party was originally called Communist League-Proletarian Left (Dutch: Kommunistenbond- Proletarisch Links, KB-PL). In 1974 the party changed its name to International Communist League (Dutch: Internationale Kommunistenbond, IKB) and formally re-affiliated with the Fourth International. In response to the change in course of the Fourth International, which with the 'turn to industry' wanted to focus more on the organizing of industrial workers the IKB again changed its name to the Socialist Workers Party (Dutch: Socialistische Arbeiderspartij) in 1983.[7]

In the late 1980s the entire Dutch non-social democratic left was in decline. This caused a major push for left unity, which eventually led to the Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN), the PSP, the PPR and the non-parliamentary Evangelical People's Party (EVP) to at first form a common election list and later merged to form a new political party: GreenLeft. The SAP was excluded from these unity talks.[8]

Crisis and regroupment

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In the early 2000s the SAP discussed multiple strategies to regain relevance. Attempts to merge with the International Socialists (IS) did not succeed and many member left the organization to join other leftwing parties. Membership numbers dwindled to about 40.[9] It was decided that the group could no longer consider itself a 'party' and therefore was renamed Socialist Alternative Politics (Dutch: Socialistische Alternatieve Politiek). The paper version of their magazine Grenzeloos (Borderless) was canceled in 2013.[10]

The SAP published a newspaper Klassenstrijd which in 1992 was renamed to Grenzeloos. The SAP also for a time had an affiliated youth wing called Rebel. Rebel fizzled out in the late 1990s.

Activities

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Members of the SAP are active in the trade union Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV) and contribute to the International Institute for Research and Education (IIRE) which is based in Amsterdam. Many of its members are also active within the Socialist Party (SP), although not in an entryist fashion. For instance Leo de Kleijn was a SAP member who was a city council member for the SP in Rotterdam.[11]

Elections

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The IKB/SAP occasionally participated in elections, although it never managed to win seats on its own. At the local level it often sought coalitions with other leftwing groups, for instance PSP, SP and The Greens, through which SAP members were elected to city council in among others Deventer and Amsterdam. The SAP as an organization no longer participates in elections, although individual member still run as candidates for other parties.

Tweede Kamer
Year Name Votes %
1981 IKB 1,814 0,02
1986 SAP 3,634 0,04
1989 SAP 4,297 0,04
1994 SAP-Rebel 4,347 0,05
Provinciale Staten
Provincie Votes %
1987 Provinciale Staten Elections
Overijssel 109 0,02%
Gelderland 161 0,02%
North Holland 860 0,08%
South Holland 1,154 0,08%
North Brabant 899 0,09%
1991 Provinciale Staten Elections
Groningen 439 0,18%
North Brabant 1,013 0,13%
South Holland 1,216 0,13%
Gelderland 678 0,09%
North Holland 986 0,11%
1995 Provinciale Staten Elections
Utrecht 548 0,13%
Gemeenteraden
Gemeente Votes %
1982 Local Elections (as IKB)
Rotterdam 108 0,05%
Amsterdam 136 0,05%
1986 Local Elections (as SAP)
Deventer 170 0,46%
Amsterdam 428 0,13%
1990 Local Elections
Amsterdam 577 0,21%
The Hague 254 0,15%
Breda 198 0,41%
Eindhoven 304 0,44%
Nijmegen 340 0,53%
1994 Local Elections
Eindhoven 762 0,88%
Beverwijk 213 1,24%

References

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  1. ^ "Organizations | Fourth International". Fourth International. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  2. ^ Blom, Ron (2015). 'Een banier waar geen smet op rust' : de geschiedenis van het trotskisme in Nederland, 1938-heden. Steen, Bart van der, 1983-. Soesterberg. pp. 336–339. ISBN 9789461535610. OCLC 898079605.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Blom, Ron (2015). 'Een banier waar geen smet op rust' : de geschiedenis van het trotskisme in Nederland, 1938-heden. Steen, Bart van der, 1983-. Soesterberg. p. 113. ISBN 9789461535610. OCLC 898079605.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Blom, Ron (2015). 'Een banier waar geen smet op rust' : de geschiedenis van het trotskisme in Nederland, 1938-heden. Steen, Bart van der, 1983-. Soesterberg. pp. 114–117. ISBN 9789461535610. OCLC 898079605.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ Blom, Ron (2015). 'Een banier waar geen smet op rust' : de geschiedenis van het trotskisme in Nederland, 1938-heden. Steen, Bart van der, 1983-. Soesterberg. pp. 160–163. ISBN 9789461535610. OCLC 898079605.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Blom, Ron (2015). 'Een banier waar geen smet op rust' : de geschiedenis van het trotskisme in Nederland, 1938-heden. Steen, Bart van der, 1983-. Soesterberg. p. 165. ISBN 9789461535610. OCLC 898079605.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ^ Blom, Ron (2015). 'Een banier waar geen smet op rust' : de geschiedenis van het trotskisme in Nederland, 1938-heden. Steen, Bart van der, 1983-. Soesterberg. pp. 274–277. ISBN 9789461535610. OCLC 898079605.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^ Blom, Ron (2015). 'Een banier waar geen smet op rust' : de geschiedenis van het trotskisme in Nederland, 1938-heden. Steen, Bart van der, 1983-. Soesterberg. pp. 336–339. ISBN 9789461535610. OCLC 898079605.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ Blom, Ron (2015). 'Een banier waar geen smet op rust' : de geschiedenis van het trotskisme in Nederland, 1938-heden. Steen, Bart van der, 1983-. Soesterberg. p. 387. ISBN 9789461535610. OCLC 898079605.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^ Blom, Ron (2015). 'Een banier waar geen smet op rust' : de geschiedenis van het trotskisme in Nederland, 1938-heden. Steen, Bart van der, 1983-. Soesterberg. p. 389. ISBN 9789461535610. OCLC 898079605.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. ^ "Rood in de raad". www.grenzeloos.org (in Dutch). 14 November 2007. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
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