(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Weekends 10-12. October this year, AUF celebrated its centenary. Not quite in the day, because in the commissioning office The salt of the party. The history of the AUF Professor of Contemporary History, Terje Halvorsen, tells us that the forerunner of today's youth organization – Norwegian Social Democratic Youth Federation – was formed in Drammen on June 20, 1903 under the slogan "in unity and faith until capitalist tyranny falls". One hundred years is a long time and the range of political issues is enormous: from anti-militarism and general strikes to opposition to NATO, the EC / EU and the growth society. AUF is also an organization with large fluctuations in terms of institutional shelling, membership and local variations. The divisions are many, especially to the left; first in 1909, then in 1921 and 1923, before Workers' Youth County originated in 1927. Later, in the 1960s, foreign policy opposition led to the formation of SF, later the SV.
"100 years of history is not unproblematic to go through, process and present within given limits," Halvorsen points out. And writes further: “June 20, 1903, 15 young men gathered for a meeting in 'Gimle' in Drammen to form the Norwegian Social Democratic Youth Union […] October 10, 2002 met around 350 elected representatives and over 50 shop stewards, guests and employees in total over 400 people to a national meeting in Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylking – AUF in Samfunnshuset in Oslo […] the first meeting confessed to the fight against 'capitalist tyranny'. When the meeting in 2002 took place, capitalism still existed. "
Although this, strictly speaking, does not have to be interpreted as meaning that AUF – the Labor Party's awake conscience with lasting "left-wing disease", to use Trygve Bratteli's term – has been a failed political project, it gives an indication of the historian's challenge to arrange and systematize events into a credible and not least exciting narrative. Has Halvorsen succeeded in this? In most areas yes, in others no. Certainly AUF will be satisfied with this work. As commissioned research, the study is exemplary. In the eyes of this reviewer, this is a very thorough, and at times impressive, piece of work in terms of the use of primary and secondary sources. Halvorsen has spent his three years well. The book is also eminently neat, and adorned with beautiful pictures and small text excerpts in boxes along the way. Its layout, and not least its neat structure, helps to make the book very reader-friendly – not only for members of the organization but also for politically interested people. Each chapter (out of a total of 28) is rounded off with summary considerations. The last main part of the book (out of a total of 8) "The party's salt" also constitutes an overall conclusion.
Furthermore, there is little doubt that the book itself and its idea are justified. After the history of most parties has now been written, it is time to turn our attention to the respective organizations' youth organizations. They are genuine expressions of political practice in modern Norway. In that sense, it is a pioneering project. And an important one. Based on Seip's famous claim about the Labor Party as the eagle among parties, AUF can be described as the eagle among the youth parties. Both in terms of membership numbers, ideology production, political breaks, purposeful strategic work and not least as a workshop for a large number of key figures in Norwegian political history, AUF appears as a viktig political institution. AUF's policy will be the party's policy, which in turn will be the country's policy. Therefore, it is inevitable that the story of AUF will not also be a story about the growth and fall of the Norwegian labor movement, about the AP party, about modern Norway, about Norway's political relations with other countries, and nevertheless about the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial society. In short, and otherwise highlighted by the author; "AUF has never been a boring organization". But that does not mean that the book necessarily appears to be fun and exciting. This of course depends on which eyes are seeing. In the eyes of this reviewer, it draws down that it follows a highly traditional historical framework: The author is withdrawn and writes about "all this that has happened", both carefully, in detail and chronologically, but the broad lines and interpretations are missing. The analytical approaches only appear in a few places, but then more as a summary than as a critical reflection. So what framework has Halvorsen chosen for his story? The book moves along four lines: AUF's ideology and political work, AUF's relationship with the AP, AUF as an organization and AUF as a meeting place for young people.
Audio institutional analysis Halvorsen's book contains a number of interesting findings. The main approach taken in the book is twofold: firstly, AUF's relationship to the AP, and secondly, AUF's relationship to its own organization. AUF as "salt" is the metaphor itself. But salt can be understood in three ways; as a storage agent, as a flavoring, and as a pure irritant. In any case, AUF has always had a repeated desire to be an ideological watchdog that ensures that the party does not deviate from a radical political course. The book is good here. It provides not only countless examples of conflicts within management, but also of local variations.
Audio sosial analysis of youth policy, the book offers exciting findings, but is still somewhat deficient. Dance (which Einar Gerhardsen wanted to ban in 1921, because it dulled the class struggle), love, teamwork, music and theater are involved, and not least the conflict that then easily arises in relation to the political work in general. However, the book could have made more out of the boundaries that AUF created here; between which activities should apply as "politics" and not. Nevertheless, I miss a stronger youth focus. One is left with the impression that AUF is not really a youth organization, but rather a party within the party.
Admittedly, they are political the tensions – not only between the youth organization and the older gentlemen (for a long time men are the most involved) in the party, but also internally in AUF – which occupy the largest place in the book. In short, the book tells of an organization that has always been safely placed on the "left" in the political landscape, but where the content over time has changed meaning. The content of radicality is historically relative, given the existing order in which it is measured in relation to; an industrial class society, a social democratic order or a post-industrial society. However, I miss a clearer thinking and not least systematization of how concepts, language and ideas – such as "revolution", "class", "people" and "nation" – have provided guidance on how members of AUF have interpreted the world around them , and not least changes to these. This especially applies to AUF's distinctive way of intervening – not least creating a political field, set up against other alternatives. Halvorsen touches several times on the meaning of the symbols and how the mental landscape is constantly changing, but this still remains a downgraded task. Instead, he highlights well-used "external" explanations such as wars, revolutions or economic deterioration. AUF's reality is thus only a mirror of something given that has already happened.
Apart from this, I think Halvorsen succeeds in showing all the tensions and contradictions that have existed within the Norwegian labor movement and not least expressed not only between AUF and the party but equally strongly within the organization. AUF is not a monolithic or streamlined opinion group. At times, the struggle has been strong; "Not only dry fists were used, but also pistols and peppers." The book provides many great examples of how ideological and political dividing lines simultaneously become boundary lines for what kind of opinions can coexist within one and the same political organization. The book is, especially through its rich source material and many examples, an important contribution to analyzing young people's political expression. As a storyteller, the book is a flavoring, as an analysis a storage medium.
