Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation

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Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation
Syndikalistiska Ungdomsförbundet
Founded 1993
Country Sweden
Website www.suf.cc

Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation, (Syndikalistiska Ungdomsförbundet) (SUF) is a youth-based group in Sweden that supports anarcho-syndicalism.

It was founded in 1993, and has some of its roots in the young militant autonomous movement that began to grow throughout Scandinavia in the early 1990s.[1]

Inspiration also came from the anarcho-syndicalist trade union Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden. From just three groups in 1993 it grew rapidly[citation needed] and today it is a nation-wide federation made up of around 25 local groups throughout the entire country, and several committees active within the federation.[2] They publish a magazine called Direkt Aktion and a monthly internal paper called Storm.

SUF is, in contrast to its anarcho-syndicalist beliefs, not a union. Their idea of anarcho-syndicalism expands beyond the daily labour union activity, and claims that in a global community where capitalist relations have expanded into all parts of society, a broader movement and a broader definition of class struggle is needed. Thus, they believe it is necessary to confront capitalism not only in workplaces, but also in schools, universities, local communities, etc.

Contents

[edit] Campaigns

[edit] Nu jävlar är det nog

Nu jävlar är det nog, Now damnit it's enough, was a nation-wide anti-racist campaign initiated by SUF on August 24, 2004 and ended February 1, 2005. It claimed to be different from other anti-racist campaigns in that it also took in account factors such as social class.

[edit] Klasskampen tar inte semester

Klasskampen tar inte semester, The class struggle doesn't go on vacation, was SUF's nation-wide campaign about summer jobs. It lasted for five months, from May 1 to October 1, 2005. It was criticized for encouraging people to commit illegal acts.[3][4]

[edit] Osynliga Partiet

Main article: Invisible Party

The nationwide campaign Osynliga Partiet (the Invisible Party) was partly initiated by SUF. The campaign first received media attention when winner of the reality show Toppkandidaterna Petter Nilsson donated part of his prize to SUF for financing part of the campaign, which was heavily criticized when fractions of the party later attacked and vandalized offices of the Centre Party and to a lesser extent offices of the Christian Democrats.

[edit] Criticism

SUF states that they "are revolutionaries and therefore we must not allow ourselves to be contained by the frames of the system; laws cannot limit our methods of struggle".[5] Apart from criticism against SUF's campaigns (see above), SUF has due to this view attracted some other criticism, especially from the Centre Party.

Fredrick Federley, chairman of the Centre Party Youth League, often expresses criticism against the left and has on one occasion criticized SUF, when a sticker from SUF was found on the door of his sister's apartment,[6]

Leo Pierini, secretary of CUF Jönköping, has expressed concern about the democratic values of SUF and other parts of the extra-parliamentary left, claiming they are not working within the boundaries of democracy and parliamentarism.[7]

Martin Kinnunen, chairman of the Sweden Democrat Youth, has also criticized SUF for partaking in violent actions,[8] in example after an anti-racist demonstration organized by Nätverket Mot Rasism in December 2005.[9]

Björn Söder, party secretary of the Sweden Democrats, has criticized SUF's involvement in the Invisible Party and Petter Nilsson's choice of SUF as the receiver of the prize money from SVT's Toppkandidaterna.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ SUF.cc: A short introduction to SUF
  2. ^ (Swedish) SUF.cc - Addresser (it lists 25 local clubs)
  3. ^ (Swedish) Janzon, Tove. "Krönika: Sover SUF:arna på jobbet?", Rebell, 2005-06-09. Retrieved on 2006-12-08.
  4. ^ (Swedish) "Ungsyndikalister uppmanar unga att stjäla från arbetsgivare", Dagens Nyheter, 2005-06-09. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  5. ^ SUF.cc, Statement of Principles, paragraph 4
  6. ^ (Swedish) Federley: SUF
  7. ^ (Swedish) Leo: Riktigt otäckt
  8. ^ (Swedish) Kinnunens blogg: Sverigedemokrater i vänsterfack?
  9. ^ (Swedish) Kinnunens blogg: Nätverket mot rasism hycklar - V och MP i dåligt sällskap
  10. ^ (Swedish) Söders blogg: När våldet drabbar upphovsmännen

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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