Lucy Redler

Last updated

Lucy Redler
Redler.jpg
Redler
Born (1979-08-17) 17 August 1979 (age 43)
NationalityGerman
OccupationPolitician

Lucy Redler (born 17 August 1979) is a German politician, Socialist Alternative activist, and member of the Left Party. From 2005 to 2007, Redler served on the executive committee of the Berlin section of the Labor and Social Justice List (WASG), and she was its chief candidate in the 2006 Berlin state elections. The German media has given Redler the nickname "Red Lucy". [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early life

Redler was born on 17 August 1979, in Hann. Münden, near Kassel, in Lower Saxony. She is the daughter of a social worker and a pediatric nurse. She first became active in politics through anti-fascist demonstrations. At the age of 15, she became involved with the group Youth against Racism in Europe, which was organized by the Trotskyist group Socialist Alternative (SAV) and other sections of the CWI. Redler studied political economy at the Hamburg University for Economy and Politics. [5]

Political career

Remaining in Hamburg following her graduation, she became a local spokesperson for "Youth against War", an anti-Iraq War group close to the SAV. [6] In the 2002 German federal elections, Redler ran in a Hamburg district as an SAV candidate for the Bundestag. In the 2004 Hamburg state election, she ran on the electoral list of Regenbogen ("Rainbow"), which was a local electoral alliance of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), Communist Party (DKP), and SAV. [7]

In 2005, Redler moved to Berlin and became editor of the SAV newspaper, Solidarität. In November of that year, she was elected to the executive committee of the WASG's Berlin section. [5] She then ran as the head candidate of the WASG in the September 2006 Berlin state elections. [8] The Berlin WASG campaign was controversial, since its candidates directly challenged the slate of the PDS, which was allied with the WASG. Redler openly criticized the role of PDS politicians as participants in the state government. [9] [10] In November 2006, she was elected to the National Committee of the WASG; however, seven months later, the organization voted to merge with the PDS and form the Left Party.

Critical of the terms of the WASG-PDS merger, Redler initially attempted to organize a group that was autonomous from the Left Party in Berlin, known as the Berlin Alternative for Solidarity and Justice (BASG). [11] However, in September 2008, the SAV instructed its East German and Berlin members to join the Left Party. Redler applied for membership in the party, which fueled controversy because of her past activities. The issue even appeared in the pages of major newspapers, such as Der Spiegel , Die Welt , and the Berliner Morgenpost . [12] [13] [14] Because of opposition from some leaders of the Left Party, she was not accepted as a member of the party until August 2010. [15] [16] Since 2016, Redler is elected member of the Parteivorstand (National Executive Committee) of the Left Party. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)</span> German democratic socialist political party

The Party of Democratic Socialism was a democratic socialist political party in Germany active between 1989 and 2007. It was the legal successor to the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), which ruled the German Democratic Republic as a state party until 1990. From 1990 through to 2005, the PDS had been seen as the left-wing "party of the East". While it achieved minimal support in western Germany, it regularly won 15% to 25% of the vote in the eastern new states of Germany, entering coalition governments in the federal states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregor Gysi</span> German lawyer and left-wing politician

Gregor Florian Gysi is a German attorney, former president of the Party of the European Left and a prominent politician of The Left political party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gesine Lötzsch</span> German politician

Gesine Lötzsch is a German politician of the left-wing party Die Linke. In 2010, with Klaus Ernst, she was elected president of the party.

Left Shift was a Trotskyist group in Germany, which was the German affiliate of the International Socialist Tendency. In September 2007, Linksruck formally dissolved, and its members regrouped into the Left Party as Marx21 – Network for International Socialism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oskar Lafontaine</span> German politician (born 1943)

Oskar Lafontaine is a German politician. He served as Minister-President of the state of Saarland from 1985 to 1998, and was federal leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 1995 to 1999. He was the lead candidate for the SPD in the 1990 German federal election, but lost by a wide margin. He served as Minister of Finance under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder after the SPD's victory in the 1998 federal election, but resigned from both the ministry and Bundestag less than six months later, positioning himself as a popular opponent of Schröder's policies in the tabloid press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sahra Wagenknecht</span> German politician (born 1969)

Sahra Wagenknecht is a German politician, economist, author and publicist. Since 2009, she has been a member of the Bundestag for The Left. From 2015 to 2019 she served as parliamentary co-chair of her party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative</span> Left-wing German political party

Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative was a left-wing German political party founded in 2005 by activists disenchanted with the ruling Red-Green coalition government. On 16 June 2007 WASG merged with Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) to form The Left. At the time of its merger with The Left Party. PDS, WASG party membership stood at about 11,600 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katja Kipping</span> German politician

Katja Kipping is a German politician of The Left who is serving as Senator for Integration, Labour and Social Affairs in the Berlin state government since December 2021. She was previously a member of the Bundestag representing Saxony from 2005 to 2021. She was federal co-leader of The Left from 2012 to 2021 alongside Bernd Riexinger.

Socialist Alternative is a German Trotskyist organization and the German section of International Socialist Alternative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Left (Germany)</span> German political party

The Left, commonly referred to as the Left Party, is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative. Through the PDS, the party is the direct descendant of the Marxist–Leninist ruling party of the former East Germany, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. Since 2022, The Left's co-chairpersons have been Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan. The party holds 39 seats out of 736 in the Bundestag, the federal legislature of Germany, having won 4.9% of votes cast in the 2021 German federal election. Its parliamentary group is the smallest of six in the Bundestag, and is headed by parliamentary co-leaders Amira Mohamed Ali and Dietmar Bartsch.

The Socialist Left is a political caucus in the Left Party of Germany. It includes political viewpoints ranging from left Keynesianism and left social democracy to reform communism and Marxism. SL members share a common goal of orienting the Left Party firmly toward the labor movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bärbel Beuermann</span> German politician

Bärbel Beuermann is a German politician, and was a member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia as a list MP since the state election held on 9 May 2010. She is the joint leader of the party in the Landtag, and is also a member of The Left's national party executive. After the election of 2012 in North Rhine-Westphalia she retired from the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Baden-Württemberg state election</span> State election in Germany

The 2011 Baden-Württemberg state election was held on 27 March 2011 to elect the members of the 14th Landtag of Baden-Württemberg. The incumbent coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union and Free Democratic Party led by Minister-President Stefan Mappus lost its majority. The Greens achieved their best result in a state election up to this point at 24%, and became the second largest party in the Landtag. They subsequently formed a coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and Greens leader Winfried Kretschmann was elected Minister-President. He became the first Green politician to serve as a state head of government in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election</span>

The 2011 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election was held on 4 September 2011 to elect the members of the 6th Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The incumbent grand coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Minister-President Erwin Sellering retained its majority and continued in government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Left North Rhine-Westphalia</span> Chapter of the Left Party in North Rhine-Westphalia

The Left of North Rhine-Westphalia is the chapter of the Left Party in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birgit Klaubert</span> German politician

Birgit Klaubert is a German politician and former vice president of the Thuringian regional parliament ("Landtag"). From 2014 to 2017 Klaubert served as Thuringia's Minister for Education, Youth and Sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dagmar Enkelmann</span> German politician

Dagmar Enkelmann is a German politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicole Gohlke</span> German politician

Nicole Stephanie Gohlke is a German politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefan Liebich</span> German politician

Stefan Liebich is a German politician, who served as a member of the Bundestag for the Democratic Socialist party The Left between 2009 and 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cansu Özdemir</span> German politician

Cansu Özdemir is a German politician of The Left from Hamburg. She is a member of the Hamburg Parliament.

References

  1. Peter Dausend, "Lucy und ihre Bande", Die Welt (11 March 2006).
  2. Hildburg Bruns, "Linke wollen rote Lucy nicht", Bild (22 October 2008).
  3. "Weiter Kampf gegen rote Lucy", Bild (30 October 2008).
  4. Was will die rote Lucy?: Ein Gespräch mit der Rebellin Redler (Edition Ost, 2007).
  5. 1 2 "Zur Person", official campaign biography (28 July 2006).
  6. "SchülerInnenstreik legt Hamburg lahm" (25 March 2003)
  7. Lucy Redler Archived 2009-05-18 at the Wayback Machine - Regenbogen website biography.
  8. "Tarifvertrag für die Charité – jetzt!", press release by Redler (28 August 2006).
  9. "Vital stage for the left in Germany", Socialism Today (April–May 2006).
  10. Lucas Adler and Ulrich Rippert, "Germany: Election Alternative prepares for merger with Left Party", World Socialist Web Site (24 November 2006).
  11. Katrin Schoelkopf, "Lucy Redler tritt in die Linke ein", Berlin Morgenpost (12 September 2008).
  12. Katharina Peters, "Linke hadern mit der roten Lucy", Der Spiegel (28 October 2008)
  13. "Linkspartei-Vize kämpft gegen Redlers Beitritt", Welt Online (29 October 2008)
  14. Joachim Fahrun, "Linken-Streit um Lucy Redler eskaliert", Berliner Morgenpost (30 October 2008)
  15. "DIE LINKE. Berlin: Schiedskommission gibt Einsprüchen statt". Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  16. Hengst, Björn (September 2010). "Trotzkistin in der Linken: Die Rückkehr der roten Lucy". Der Spiegel.
  17. "DIE LINKE: Für Solidarität und soziale Gerechtigkeit!".