The association of Marxist Students has been an active member of the Göta Student Union for the past four years. Recently, there has been some backlash against them, with board members allegedly questioning their adherence to democratic principles. In three weeks’ time, Göta Student Union -the biggest student union of Gothenburg University- will decide whether or not the association is allowed to remain part of the Union.
Sebastian Ingvarsson and his colleague from Marxist Students in their Gothenburg office (4 September 2018)
The Marxist Students feel that removing their membership would be hypocritical. “Excluding us from the Student Union would be an act of censorship,“ argues Sebastian Ingvarsson, an active member of the Marxist Students association.
According to the association, the group is facing exclusion on political grounds – some representatives of the Göta Student Union (GSU) Committee Board consider Marxist ideology to be incompatible with GSU’s internal rules, and could possibly clash with principles of democracy. Members of the MS association suspect that one or more people in the GSU, who personally hold conservative values, are spearheading the effort to exclude them.
The reason Marxistiska Studenterna is viewed so critically, according to Ingvarsson, is the misconception that the association follows Stalin’s ideology. To these students, however, this could not be further from the truth: “Our movement follows in the footsteps of Trotsky,” explains Ingvarsson. “Our predecessors were actually the first victims of Stalinist purges, which makes these accusations against us even more ridiculous” Ingvarsson insists that the Marxist Students regard everyone as equal and have always been advocates for democracy.
In response to the threat of exclusion from the GSU, the MS association has started a “campaign for Marxist rights“, through which they hope to raise awareness of the controversy and trigger a public debate. According to the association, the GSU would prefer not to confront the issue openly.
When reached for comment, Axel Andersson, chairman of the Göta Student Union, claimed that the Marxist Students might soon see their student association status revoked not because of their political beliefs, but due to a lack of documentation. “No one is being excluded from Göta student union,” said Andersson.
If their membership is not renewed, the Marxist Students will receive less funding from the Union. While the financial setbacks might be the biggest concern, losing the status as a recognized student association will come with other drawbacks as well.
In order to get the status of a student association or have this status renewed, each group needs to submit relevant documentation every year. “This spring, the documentation of Marxist Students was lacking, so they have been given the opportunity to send in additional documentation” explains Andersson. “Their status will be decided upon during the next General Assembly meeting, on 24th September.”
The Marxist Students organize weekly meetings open to everyone, where participants discuss current political events around the world from a Marxist perspective. They are not officially affiliated with any political party, but in the Swedish elections happening this weekend, they advocate for the Left Party (Vänsterpartiet).
