Europe in Revolt by Catarina Príncipe

Author:Catarina Príncipe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, ebook
ISBN: 978-1-60846-658-0
Publisher: Haymarket Books
Published: 2016-06-12T16:00:00+00:00

8.

The Dutch Socialist Party: From Sect to Mass Party

The Socialist Party went from fringe force to national contender. But lost its soul along the way.

Alex de Jong

In many Western countries, the far left remains dominated by groups rooted in the radicalization of the 1960s. Most never became more than propaganda outfits of a few hundred members. The Socialist Party (sp) in the Netherlands is an exception. What started as just another left splinter developed into a mass party that seems poised to become the largest left-of-center force in the country.

The May 2014 municipal elections saw a dramatic change in the politics of Amsterdam: the social-democratic Labour Party (pvda) disappeared from the municipal executive for the first time since the party’s foundation in 1946. In its place, two right-wing parties formed a coalition with the sp. So far, the Socialist Party’s attempts to overtake the pvda nationally have failed, but it’s on the more established party’s heels.

The development is remarkable, all the more so because the Dutch left has historically been weak. The industrial working class, often the backbone of leftist parties in Europe, was relatively small in the Netherlands. And workers were long divided between Protestants and Catholics. Large parts of the disadvantaged Catholic working class were organized along religious lines until the 1960s. Social movements remain weak. Despite this, the sp has grown into the third-largest party in the country.

The sp has its origins as a small pro-China split from the Communist Party of the Netherlands in 1965. In its early days the group was based in the port city of Rotterdam, where it was one of many left grouplets. But the Maoists managed to find support during the radicalization of the sixties, especially in parts of the Catholic south of the country as religious organizations disintegrated. There, they didn’t have much competition from larger left-wing organizations.

While many left-wing groups were active in the trade unions, the sp kept its distance from them. National campaigns were another priority for many leftists, but here also the sp had different concerns. It focused instead on local campaigns in municipalities. These campaigns were an important way for the party to gain recognition and create an initial base of support.

Faithful to the Maoist slogan “serve the people,” the sp organized medical and juridical support for people in need. In many places, sp branches still coordinate assistance for people who have a conflict with their landlord or need help applying for social security. This approach was successful in building local support in several cities.

But there were setbacks. The party’s official “Marxist-Leninist” ideology had little to say about the sp’s daily activities around local issues like traffic safety, soil pollution, or housing. The party remained aloof from international developments — its infatuation with China faded in the early 1970s — and it engaged little with other currents.

The local support didn’t automatically translate into success on a national level. Many people who felt sympathy for the party’s work, as well as dedicated activists, didn’t feel the sp could represent them on a national level.

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