DWARS
Encyclopedia
DWARS, de GroenLinkse jongerenorganisatie ("Contrary", the GreenLeft Youth Organisation, for more information on the name see name section) is the independent youth wing
of GreenLeft
, the Dutch
Green political party.
by the PSJG
the youth wing of the Pacifist Socialist Party and the Political Party of Radical Youth (PPRJ) the youth wing of the Political Party of Radicals. Because of the merger of these two parties, with the CPN and the EVP, in the GreenLeft, the youth wings were forced to merge too. The General Dutch Youth League
, linked to the Communist Party of the Netherlands
decided to continue on its own. The Evangelical People's Party did not have an independent youth wing. There were major differences between the two youth organizations. The PSJG was oriented towards actions and campaigning, mainly against nuclear power
and weapons. Within the PSJG there was a large anarchist group, which was opposed to parliamentary democracy. The PSJG operated independent from the PSP. The PPRJ was much more moderate and was not opposed to parliamentary democracy. The PPRJ was very dependent on its motherparty, the PPR. This difference between parliamentary oriented members and action-oriented members. In the first ten years of its existence the anarchist PSP youth held a majority, and DWARS became more independent from the GreenLeft. During this period Judith Sargentini
was one of the spokespersons of the organization. Since a few years, the ties with the GreenLeft have been tightened and a more moderate group has come to power.
In the last years DWARS has been oriented towards cooperating with other youth wings of political parties. In 2004 they signed the Pepper-accords, together with ROOD, youth within the Socialist Party
and the Young Socialists within the Labour Party, which called for tighter cooperation between the GreenLeft, the Socialist Party and the Labour Party, which would result in a new cabinet, after the next elections. It was called "pepper-accords" in reference to their colour (red) and taste (spicy), because a leftwing government in their view would produce exciting new leftwing policy . In 2001 DWARS signed the Paprika
-accords together with the Young Socialists within the Labour Party and the Christian Democratic Youth Appeal
, which also called for tighter cooperation between the GreenLeft, the Christian Democratic Appeal and the Labour Party, which would result in a new cabinet, after the 2002 elections
. It was called "paprika-accordis" in reference to their colours (green, yellow and red), which correspond to the colours of the respective parties. But DWARS has also been able to convince the GreenLeft to stay close to its political ideals, in 2001 the youth wing started a petition under local representatives of the party, calling on the GreenLeft parliamentary party in the House of Representatives to revoke its support for the War against Afghanistan
, the petition succeeded.
The name was formed after a fierce debate on the founding congress. More moderate participants, who had a history in the PPRJ proposed the name "GreenLeft Youth" ("GroenLinkse Jongeren"), more radical members, with a background in the PSJG proposed "The green spider
in the left-hand corner of the chamber, staring to the right" ("De groene spin, die vanuit de linkerhoek, rechts de kamer intuurt). Both sides tried to sabotage the decision making, then the chairman jumped on the table and yelled: "You bunch of contrary minded people, be serious!" ("En stelletje dwarskoppen, nu serieus!"). The name DWARS stuck. The spider however remained an important symbol in the organisation, being the youthwing's logo for a while and later the youth wing's magazine and emaillist.
convenes every two year, and elects half of the board and sets the lines for the political course and can amend on the youth wings constitution. DWARS publishes the independent magazine OverDWARS (a pun meaning both "across" and about DWARS) and uses emaillists to communicate to its members, one of those is called "the Spider" ("de Spin") and the other the DWARSdoorsnee (a pun on the organizations name, meaning cross section). There are several working groups which think about green and left politics and organize activities.
DWARS is formally independent from the GreenLeft, like her predecessors PSJG and PPRJ. For a long period the relations between DWARS and the GreenLeft were very bad. Since a few years this course has changed.
Between 1991 and 1996 DWARS was a collection of campaigning groups with a fast changing composition. The most important groups were the UFO (a pun on the term UFO and Uitermate Fantasievol Overleg "Extremely Fantastic Council") which functioned as board, the ParGo (the Parliamentary Group), which was oriented towards the GreenLeft parliamentary party, Dodo (like the extinct animal
) which addressed environmental issues, the Anti-Fa-working group, which followed organisations on the extreme right. DWARS published two magazines, "the Spider" and the "Former Disaster" ("Voorheen RamPSPoed", a continuation of the magazine of the PSJG, which incorporated the acronym of the motherparty, PSP).
Between 1996 and 1999 a crisis board took over, and in 1999 they proposed a new anarchist organization, with executive working groups ("Uitvoerende Werkgroepen"), in which all members could join, of which representatives would come together in the coordinating council ("Coordinerend Overleg"). These representatives would function as board members and were directly elected on congresses. The coordinating council was joined by the Shadow Parliamentary Party ("Schaduwfractie") which followed the GreenLeft parliamentary party, later this group was called Youth Parliamentary Party (Jongerenfractie). This organization was maintained until 2005, when the coordinating council and the youth parliamentary party merged to form a single board. Until 2007 it had two chairpersons, one for organizational matters and one for political affairs.
(FYEG). For a short while they were member of European Network of Democratic Young Left
(ENDYL).
Youth wing
A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous or independently-allied front of a larger organization that is formed in order to rally support and allegiance for that organization's campaigns from members and potential members of a younger age...
of GreenLeft
GreenLeft
GreenLeft is a green political party operating in the Netherlands.GreenLeft was formed on 1 March 1989 as a merger of four left-wing political parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party...
, the Dutch
Politics of the Netherlands
The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state...
Green political party.
Ideals and policies
Both the manifest for a better world, the organization's program of principles and 2025 - DWARS' proposals for the future, the organization's political program the party lists its five core-ideals which are equal to each other:- SustainabilitySustainabilitySustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
: DWARS wants to share the Earth's finite resources with future generations. Furthermore it believes that the rights of animalsAnimal rightsAnimal 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...
should be protected. In practice this means that DWARS supports the use of renewable energyRenewable energyRenewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
, wants to invest in public transportPublic transportPublic transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
and use the European agricultural subsidiesCommon Agricultural PolicyThe Common Agricultural Policy is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes. It represents 48% of the EU's budget, €49.8 billion in 2006 ....
to finance the transition from industrial farming to organic agriculture, DWARS seeks to include animal rights in the Dutch constitution and supports squattingSquattingSquatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
as a means to protest the government's housing policies. - Solidarity: DWARS wants to divide the resources of the world in such a way that every person has the means to develop his or her self. It wants to implement a basic incomeBasic incomeA basic income guarantee is a proposed system of social security, that regularly provides each citizen with a sum of money. In contrast to income redistribution between nations themselves, the phrase basic income defines payments to individuals rather than households, groups, or nations, in order...
for all Dutch citizens, shift taxation from labour to capital and support small scale initiatives for non-capitalist economics. - FreedomFreedom (political)Political freedom is a central philosophy in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important features of democratic societies...
: DWARS believes that every person should be free to develop his or her self. DWARS wants to make all education in the Netherlands free of charge, equal representation of women and minorities in government positions, government to use open source software and it supports the legalisation of soft drugs. - DemocracyDemocracyDemocracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
: DWARS sees a worldwide federal democracy the ideal form of government. On the first place it seeks to democratize the Netherlands by lowering the age to vote, strengthening the autonomy of municipalities and revert many anti-terrorism laws which infringe basic civil rights. - PeacePeacePeace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
: DWARS wants to attain worldwide peace by fighting injustice and the sources of war and conflict. In international politics, it wants to abolish NATO and instead it supports European integrationEuropean integrationEuropean integration is the process of industrial, political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe...
, it wants to strengthen the position of the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
as forum for peaceful conflict resolution. Furthermore it wants to invest in third world development with micro-credits to finance small scale projects and by ending protectionProtectionismProtectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
ist policies of the Western world. It embraces migrationHuman migrationHuman migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
as a natural phenomenon.
History
DWARS was founded on January 4, 1991. The foundation was decided on in congress on 15 and 16 December in WageningenWageningen
' is a municipality and a historical town in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specializes in life sciences. The city has 37,414 inhabitants , of which many thousands are students...
by the PSJG
Pacifist Socialist Young Working Groups
Pacifist Socialist Young Working Groups was the youth wing of the Pacifist Socialist Party in the Netherlands....
the youth wing of the Pacifist Socialist Party and the Political Party of Radical Youth (PPRJ) the youth wing of the Political Party of Radicals. Because of the merger of these two parties, with the CPN and the EVP, in the GreenLeft, the youth wings were forced to merge too. The General Dutch Youth League
General Dutch Youth League
Algemeen Nederlands Jeugd Verbond, a political youth movement in the Netherlands. ANJV was founded on June 15, 1945 in Concert building, Amsterdam...
, linked to the Communist Party of the Netherlands
Communist Party of the Netherlands
The Communist Party of the Netherlands was a Dutch communist political party. The CPN is one of the predecessors of the GreenLeft.- Foundation :...
decided to continue on its own. The Evangelical People's Party did not have an independent youth wing. There were major differences between the two youth organizations. The PSJG was oriented towards actions and campaigning, mainly against nuclear power
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...
and weapons. Within the PSJG there was a large anarchist group, which was opposed to parliamentary democracy. The PSJG operated independent from the PSP. The PPRJ was much more moderate and was not opposed to parliamentary democracy. The PPRJ was very dependent on its motherparty, the PPR. This difference between parliamentary oriented members and action-oriented members. In the first ten years of its existence the anarchist PSP youth held a majority, and DWARS became more independent from the GreenLeft. During this period Judith Sargentini
Judith Sargentini
Judith Sargentini is a Dutch GreenLeft politician. She is currently a Member of the European Parliament where she leads the GreenLeft delegation. Previously she was chair of the GreenLeft in the Amsterdam city council....
was one of the spokespersons of the organization. Since a few years, the ties with the GreenLeft have been tightened and a more moderate group has come to power.
In the last years DWARS has been oriented towards cooperating with other youth wings of political parties. In 2004 they signed the Pepper-accords, together with ROOD, youth within the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Netherlands)
The Socialist Party is a democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands. After the 2006 general election, the Socialist Party became one of the major parties of the Netherlands with 25 seats of 150, an increase of 16 seats. The party was in opposition against the fourth Balkenende cabinet...
and the Young Socialists within the Labour Party, which called for tighter cooperation between the GreenLeft, the Socialist Party and the Labour Party, which would result in a new cabinet, after the next elections. It was called "pepper-accords" in reference to their colour (red) and taste (spicy), because a leftwing government in their view would produce exciting new leftwing policy . In 2001 DWARS signed the Paprika
Paprika
Paprika is a spice made from the grinding of dried fruits of Capsicum annuum . In many European languages, the word paprika refers to bell peppers themselves. The seasoning is used in many cuisines to add color and flavor to dishes. Paprika can range from mild to hot...
-accords together with the Young Socialists within the Labour Party and the Christian Democratic Youth Appeal
Christian Democratic Appeal
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...
, which also called for tighter cooperation between the GreenLeft, the Christian Democratic Appeal and the Labour Party, which would result in a new cabinet, after the 2002 elections
Dutch general election, 2002
The General Election to the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands was held in the Netherlands on May 15, 2002....
. It was called "paprika-accordis" in reference to their colours (green, yellow and red), which correspond to the colours of the respective parties. But DWARS has also been able to convince the GreenLeft to stay close to its political ideals, in 2001 the youth wing started a petition under local representatives of the party, calling on the GreenLeft parliamentary party in the House of Representatives to revoke its support for the War against Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
, the petition succeeded.
Name
The name is very difficult to translate. DWARS means both "transverse" and "stubborn" in English, making the translation "contrary" grammatically correct, but it does not cover the short and alternative meaning of the name.The name was formed after a fierce debate on the founding congress. More moderate participants, who had a history in the PPRJ proposed the name "GreenLeft Youth" ("GroenLinkse Jongeren"), more radical members, with a background in the PSJG proposed "The green spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
in the left-hand corner of the chamber, staring to the right" ("De groene spin, die vanuit de linkerhoek, rechts de kamer intuurt). Both sides tried to sabotage the decision making, then the chairman jumped on the table and yelled: "You bunch of contrary minded people, be serious!" ("En stelletje dwarskoppen, nu serieus!"). The name DWARS stuck. The spider however remained an important symbol in the organisation, being the youthwing's logo for a while and later the youth wing's magazine and emaillist.
Organisation
DWARS has about 900 members , most of those are also member of the GreenLeft. It has a board of nine members. The congressCongress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different nations, constituent states, independent organizations , or groups....
convenes every two year, and elects half of the board and sets the lines for the political course and can amend on the youth wings constitution. DWARS publishes the independent magazine OverDWARS (a pun meaning both "across" and about DWARS) and uses emaillists to communicate to its members, one of those is called "the Spider" ("de Spin") and the other the DWARSdoorsnee (a pun on the organizations name, meaning cross section). There are several working groups which think about green and left politics and organize activities.
DWARS is formally independent from the GreenLeft, like her predecessors PSJG and PPRJ. For a long period the relations between DWARS and the GreenLeft were very bad. Since a few years this course has changed.
Older forms of organisation
For a long period, DWARS did not have a chairperson or a board. It was organized according to anarchist principles.Between 1991 and 1996 DWARS was a collection of campaigning groups with a fast changing composition. The most important groups were the UFO (a pun on the term UFO and Uitermate Fantasievol Overleg "Extremely Fantastic Council") which functioned as board, the ParGo (the Parliamentary Group), which was oriented towards the GreenLeft parliamentary party, Dodo (like the extinct animal
Dodo
The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....
) which addressed environmental issues, the Anti-Fa-working group, which followed organisations on the extreme right. DWARS published two magazines, "the Spider" and the "Former Disaster" ("Voorheen RamPSPoed", a continuation of the magazine of the PSJG, which incorporated the acronym of the motherparty, PSP).
Between 1996 and 1999 a crisis board took over, and in 1999 they proposed a new anarchist organization, with executive working groups ("Uitvoerende Werkgroepen"), in which all members could join, of which representatives would come together in the coordinating council ("Coordinerend Overleg"). These representatives would function as board members and were directly elected on congresses. The coordinating council was joined by the Shadow Parliamentary Party ("Schaduwfractie") which followed the GreenLeft parliamentary party, later this group was called Youth Parliamentary Party (Jongerenfractie). This organization was maintained until 2005, when the coordinating council and the youth parliamentary party merged to form a single board. Until 2007 it had two chairpersons, one for organizational matters and one for political affairs.
International
DWARS is a member of Federation of Young European GreensFederation of Young European Greens
The Federation of Young European Greens is a federation of Green youth organisations from all over Europe . It is the official youth wing of the European Green Party European political party...
(FYEG). For a short while they were member of European Network of Democratic Young Left
European Network of Democratic Young Left
The European Network of Democratic Young Left is an independent network of left-wing democratic socialist political youth organizations in Europe....
(ENDYL).
External links
- DWARS - official website ( with English section)