• Transatlantic Left Voices

Expectations were high when the new German government took office one year ago today, on 8 December 2021. After 16 years of Angela Merkel, newly elected Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) promised a new beginning. The governing coalition consisting of Social Democrats, Greens, and the Free Democrats (FDP) — known as […]

• Transatlantic Left Voices

Stefan Liebich was a member of the German left party Die Linke from 2009 to 2021 and, prior to that, a member of the Berlin House of Representatives from 1995 to 2009 for Die Linke and its predecessor, the Party for Democratic Socialism. He became a Rosa Luxemburg Foundation fellow in January 2022. He spoke […]

• Transatlantic Left Voices

Germany’s new “traffic light coalition” promises a little bit of progress on crucial issues, but not much else Translation by Loren Balhorn The results of the recent German federal election have shifted the country’s political landscape. On November 24, 2021, the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens, and the Free Democrats (FDP) presented their coalition agreement. There […]

• Transatlantic Left Voices

Almost two months after Germany’s general election, Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals are negotiating what they call “a coalition of progress.” What will the probable result be? What is the role of DIE LINKE in this situation? And what does it all mean for the struggle against the far right? RLS-NYC Director Andreas Günther is […]

• Transatlantic Left Voices

A reshuffling of the political centre and a disaster for the Left Translation by Loren Balhorn The election to the 20th 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 […]

• Transatlantic Left Voices

Germans will vote in federal elections on Sunday, September 26 elections. Current polling shows no clear front runner, and there is talk of many possible governing coalitions. But one thing is certain, after more than 15 years in office, Angela Merkel will no longer be Chancellor. But what is at stake for Germans in this election? And what are the prospects for the Left going into the September vote? Watch this conversation between Die Linke MP Stefan Liebich and RLS-NYC Director Andreas Günther about these questions and more.

• Transatlantic Left Voices

Any message of solidarity, of a political alliance between the middle class and the working class, of fighting against the powers-that-be, is an uphill battle. If Die Linke wants to build solidarity in the face of growing social inequality and the rise of the far-right in Europe and around the world, the party first must demonstrate that it can practice solidarity within its own ranks.

• Transatlantic Left Voices

Despite considerable successes in party building, organizing, strengthened social movements (Fridays for Future, the tenants’ movement, Black Lives Matter, anti-police law movements, etc.) and Die Linke as an important partner in them, as well as a few exemplary left-wing governments on the state level, Germany’s main socialist party, Die Linke, is stagnating at 7 percent in the polls (2 percent less than recent election results—or worse). A look at possible causes should in no way distract from engagement in the election campaign, but rather clarify its importance once again.

• Transatlantic Left Voices

The State of Germany in the Run-Up to the September 2017 Parliamentary Elections Germany’s Bundestag elections are a mere two months away and one thing is certain: unlike many other European Union countries, in Germany all signs point to continuity. During and after the 2008 financial crisis, as well as the eurozone crisis that subsequently […]

• Transatlantic Left Voices

The European party system is changing rapidly. As a result of the ongoing neoliberal attack, the middle class is shrinking quickly, and the decades-old party allegiance of large groups of voters has followed suit. The European far right has been able to capitalize on this development; in many countries, populist and radical right-wing parties have […]

• Transatlantic Left Voices

An Interview with Bernd Riexinger – On May 28, the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung—New York Office and Jacobin Magazine are hosting a public discussion on the future of the European Left between Bernd Riexinger, co-chair of Germany’s Left Party (DIE LINKE), and SYRIZA strategist Elena Papadopoulou. How are DIE LINKE and SYRIZA building on what came […]

• Global Solidarity

Passionately watching last week’s election returns* at the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung’s office in New York, without ever having been to Germany or learned more than a half-dozen German words, was an unusual experience. It was easy enough to orient my sympathies — as an American socialist they stood with the Left Party. My initial disappointment […]

• Transatlantic Left Voices

The German political party DIE LINKE (Left Party) was established in 2007 as a merger of two previously independent parties: the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), founded in 1990 and predominantly anchored in East Germany, and the Electoral Alternative for Labor and Social Justice, founded in 2004 in the western part of the Republic. Since […]

• Transatlantic Left Voices

The political spectrum on the left is, if nothing else, characterized by its diversity—in a positive and negative way. This statement can also be made for European leftist parties. Here, the spectrum ranges from newly formed parties such as Die Linke (The Left) in Germany or the Front de Gauche in France to left-green,reform-communist, and […]

• Transatlantic Left Voices

In September 2005, the Left Party emerged as a new player in German politics, receiving 8.7 percent of the vote and entering the federal parliament with 54 deputies. Where did the Left Party come from? What are its principal values and goals? And what challenges does the party face in its quest to become an […]