On left-wing cooperation

On Tuesday 13 June, GroenLinks held a members' discussion on the left-wing cooperation between GroenLinks and the PvdA. Gijs, chairman of DWARS Utrecht, was invited to speak and tells about it in this news item.

The members' meeting aimed to gather the opinions of various party members on the possibilities and challenges of left-wing cooperation between GroenLinks and the PvdA in Utrecht. For this purpose, they had also asked me, as chairman of DWARS Utrecht, to give my unvarnished opinion. After all, as DWARS, we are the independent youth organisation of GroenLinks. So we can be nicely critical of GroenLinks without them being able to do anything about it. Of course, I am happy to take advantage of that luxury position. After all, the DWARSe perspective is important in the conversation about left-wing cooperation. After all, we are the future of GroenLinks. We also represent a group, namely young people, who are too often not heard enough within GroenLinks. That's why I'm glad I was invited, and I liked that there was such a great discussion about it afterwards.

Below you can read a short summary about what I said about left-wing collaboration👇

In principle, I favour left-wing cooperation, but under three conditions: 1. More diverse forms of cooperation 2. More focus on an inclusive society 3. Internal inclusion and diversity policies. I will explain those in a moment.

As I said, I think left-wing cooperation is good. I also think the argument of more power is a good one. Power is not a scary, dirty word, as it is sometimes talked about within the left. After all, we all want a better society, and political power is simply a very appropriate tool for that. If we act together as GroenLinks and PvdA, we have a stronger position at the negotiating table, because we can no longer be played apart. If we are in a group together it also offers more room for specialisation on specific issues, so we can be much sharper in the debate. And of course, should we be a joint group, there is a much bigger chance that we will become the largest one day and be able to deliver a left-wing prime minister again, so that we can make a really cool country for once.

Then I also have three conditions for left-wing cooperation. If these conditions are not met, then cooperation is doomed to fail.

First, let's look at many more options for left-wing cooperation than just a merger, which is so often talked about. Let's look at alternatives such as a joint group, a joint election programme, a list combination, a joint prime ministerial candidate, a joint campaign and much more. We don't have to look far to find inspiration. In other countries, we see successful examples of left-wing alliances that do not necessarily lead to a merger. Think of the progressive alliances in Scandinavian countries, or left-wing cooperation in Spain. Let's learn from these experiences and apply them in our own context. We can initiate a discussion on these different forms of cooperation, for instance by also organising special member talks on them. So let us not focus on a possible merger, but broaden our horizons.

Second, alongside the focus on red and green themes, there should also be a focus on an inclusive society, or the purple theme. I am glad that GroenLinks and the Labour Party are already focusing on green and red themes in their cooperation. We saw this in the campaign and also in their discussion paper. This focus is crucial at a time when the exploitation of people and the earth is becoming increasingly urgent. But let us not forget that there are still specific vulnerable groups that are particularly exploited. Women, for instance, are expected to do more than men in our capitalist society: they have to be both financially independent and take care of the household, according to prevailing socio-cultural norms. Residents of the global south are also particularly affected by climate change. This is because they lack money for dykes, for instance, they live on unsafe land, and their main source of income, agriculture, they see disappearing due to floods and drought. And who benefits from this? Mainly western, polluting, already far too rich companies. And those companies have CEOs called John or James more often than all female CEOs combined. Let alone someone from an immigration background at the helm. The red, green and purple themes are intertwined and each needs equal attention, which is lacking now. Thus, a just society requires not only bright red and bright green, but also deep purple policies.

Finally, there should be a plan to increase inclusion and diversity within GroenLinks and the Labour Party itself. You cannot say you are for a society where everyone matters if you do not get input from different sections of the population. We need different perspectives and experiences to solve the complex problems of our time. Both GroenLinks and the Labour Party are not that inclusive and diverse internally. This can be done differently. We can work more with different civil society organisations representing the interests of different groups in society. For example, those of refugees, mbo graduates, young people, pensioners, tenants, believers, whatever. Only if we cooperate with them and listen to them can we really say that we stand up for the interests of all.

GroenLinks and Labour must shape left-wing cooperation in a way that suits our ideals and our times. They must build a progressive social movement. And that is only possible if you also work for your own inclusion, only if you are open to all forms of cooperation.

Let's work together, hand in hand,
To a fairer country.

On Tuesday, June 13, GroenLinks held a member discussion about left-wing cooperation between GroenLinks and the PvdA. Gijs, president of DWARS Utrecht, was invited to speak and tells about it in this news item.

The purpose of the member discussion was to gather the opinions of various party members about the possibilities and challenges of left-wing cooperation between GroenLinks and the PvdA in Utrecht. For this purpose they had also asked me, as chairman of DWARS Utrecht, to give my unvarnished opinion. As DWARS we are the independent youth organisation of GroenLinks. So we can be critical of GroenLinks without them being able to do anything about it. I'm happy to take advantage of that luxury position, of course. After all, the DWARSe perspective is important in the conversation about left-wing cooperation. After all, we are the future of GroenLinks. We also represent a group, namely young people, who are too often not heard enough within GroenLinks. That's why I'm glad I was invited, and I liked that there was such a great discussion about it afterwards.

Below you can read a short summary about what I said about left-wing cooperation👇

In principle, I am in favour of left-wing cooperation, but under three conditions: 1. More diverse forms of cooperation 2. More focus on an inclusive society 3. Internal inclusion and diversity policies. I'm going to explain those in a moment.

As I said, I think left-wing collaboration is good. I also think the argument of more power is a good one. Power is not a scary, dirty word, as it is sometimes talked about within the left. After all, we all want a better society, and political power is simply a very appropriate tool for that. If we as GroenLinks and PvdA work together, we have a stronger position at the negotiating table, because we can no longer be played apart. If we are in a group together it also offers more room for specialisation on specific issues, so we can be much sharper in the debate. And of course, should we be a joint group, there is a much greater chance that we will become the largest one day and be able to deliver a left-wing prime minister again, so that we can make a really cool country for once.

Then I also have three conditions for left-wing cooperation. If these conditions are not met, cooperation is doomed to fail.

First, let's look at many more options for left-wing cooperation than just a merger, which is so often talked about. Let's look at alternatives such as a joint group, a joint election program, a list combination, a joint prime ministerial candidate, a joint campaign and much more. We don't have to look far to find inspiration. In other countries we see successful examples of left-wing cooperation that do not necessarily lead to a merger.

Think of the progressive alliances in Scandinavian countries, or leftist cooperation in Spain. Let's learn from these experiences and apply them in our own context. We can start a discussion about these different forms of cooperation, for example, by also organising special member discussions about them. So let's not focus on a possible merger, but broaden our horizons.

Second, in addition to the focus on red and green themes, there should also be a focus on an inclusive society, or the purple theme. I am glad that the Green Left and the Labour Party are already focusing on green and red themes in their cooperation. We saw that in the campaign and also in their discussion paper. This focus is crucial at a time when the exploitation of people and the earth is becoming increasingly urgent. But let's not forget that there are still specific vulnerable groups that are particularly exploited. Women, for example, are expected to do more than men in our capitalist society: they must be both financially independent and take care of the household, according to prevailing socio-cultural norms. Residents of the Global South are also particularly affected by climate change. This is because they do not have enough money for dikes, for example, they live on unsafe land, and their main source of income, agriculture, they see disappear due to floods and drought. And who benefits from this? Mainly Western, polluting, already far too rich companies. And those companies have CEOs named John or James more often than all female CEOs combined. Let alone someone from an immigration background at the helm. The red, green and purple issues are intertwined, and equal attention must be given to each issue, and that is missing now. Thus, a just society requires not only bright red and bright green, but also deep purple policies.

Finally, we need a plan to increase inclusion and diversity within the Green Left and the Labour Party itself. You can't say you are for a society where everyone matters if you don't get input from different populations. We need different perspectives and experiences to solve the complex problems of our time. Both the Green Left and the Labour Party are not that inclusive and diverse internally. We can do that differently. We can work more with different civil society organizations that represent the interests of different groups in society. For example, those of refugees, college graduates, young people, pensioners, tenants, believers, whatever. Only if we work together with them and listen to them can we really say that we stand up for the interests of everyone.

The Green Left and the Labour Party must shape leftist cooperation in a way that fits our ideals and our times. They must build a progressive social movement. And that is possible only if you also work for your own inclusion, only if you are open to all forms of cooperation.

Let's work together, hand in hand,
for a more just country.