| Workers' Youth League Arbeidernes ungdomsfylking Arbeidarane si ungdomsfylking AUF | |
|---|---|
_logo.svg){kind=logo} | |
| Chairperson | Gaute Børstad Skjervø |
| Vice-Chairperson | Nimrah Ramzan |
| Secretary General | Jan Halvor Vaag Endrerud |
| Founded | 1927; 98 years ago (1927) |
| Headquarters | Oslo, Norway |
| Membership | 8,997 (2022)[1] |
| Ideology | Social democracy[2] Democratic socialism[3] Feminism[4] |
| Mother party | Labour Party |
| International affiliation | International Union of Socialist Youth |
| European affiliation | Young European Socialists |
| Nordic affiliation | Forbundet Nordens Socialdemokratiske Ungdom (FNSU) |
| Website | auf |
TheWorkers' Youth League (Bokmål:Arbeidernes ungdomsfylking,Nynorsk:Arbeidarane si ungdomsfylking, orAUF) is Norway's largestpolitical youth organization and is affiliated with the NorwegianLabour Party.
In 1903, theNorwegian Social-Democratic Youth League was formed, which the organization and historians[citation needed] consider to be the foundation of the organization.
As an organizational entity,AUF took its current form in April 1927 following the merger ofLeft Communist Youth League andSocialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of their parent parties[5] after the conclusion of disputes over the "Twenty-one Conditions". Its ideology issocial democracy anddemocratic socialism.
Thechancellor of Germany andNobel Peace Prize laureateWilly Brandt was a member of AUF after he fled from the Nazis in 1933 and found exile in Norway.[6]
In 1958, the local chapter ofBerge Furre andKåre Sollund,Sosialistisk Studentlag, was closed down.[citation needed] A conflict arose after the United States had been offering its NATO allies American nuclear weapons as a defence against the Eastern Bloc. Sosialistisk Studenlag opposed this and as an attempt to prevent West Germany from getting access to nuclear weapons it contacted MPs during the Easter break to sign a petition. More than half of Labour's MPs signed in what is known as the Easter Rebellion of the Labour Party. The rebellion was badly received by the party leadership when the Easter break ended. Several people were excluded from the Labour Party, including the members of Sosialistisk Studentlag. All the MPs who signed the petition were later offered by the party to retract their signatures, which all but one of them did.[7]
Three years later, Furre was one of the founders of Sosialistisk Folkeparti, which got two seats in the parliament after the 1961 election. Labour, who had been winning the majority of the seats in every election after World War II, got just 74 out of 150. No party has won the majority of the seats after this.
In 1998, theWorkers' Youth League membership scandal resulted in two former treasurers and two former leaders of theOslo chapter being found guilty of fraud, and given prison sentences for having unlawfully receivedNOK 648,000 in grants from the City of Oslo between 1992 and 1994—Ragnar Bøe Elgsaas,Anders Hornslien,Bjørn Jarle Rødberg Larsen andAnders Greif Mathisen.[8][9]
Three prime ministers,Trygve Bratteli,Thorbjørn Jagland, andJens Stoltenberg have been leaders in AUF.[10] In addition,Oddvar Norli was leader of local chapter ofHedmark AUF[11] andGro Harlem Brundtland was deputy leader ofSosialistisk Studentlag andArbeiderpartiets Studentlag, local chapters of AUF,[12] before they both served as prime ministers.[11][12]
On 22 July 2011, AUF's traditional summer camp on the island ofUtøya was the scene ofa massacre carried out by the right-wing extremist terroristAnders Behring Breivik dressed as a police officer.
The camp was organised by the AUF, the youth wing of the ruling Norwegian Labour Party (AP). Breivik, dressed in a homemade police uniform and showing false identification, took a ferry to the island and opened fire at the participants, killing 69 and injuring 32. Among the dead were friends of Stoltenberg, and the stepbrother of Norway's crown princess Mette-Marit. The Utøya attack is the deadliest mass shooting by a lone individual in modern history.
The attack was the deadliest in Norway since World War II.
Its current leader isGaute Børstad Skjervø who succeededAstrid Willa Eide Hoem in October 2024.[13] AUF employs county secretaries in all 19counties of Norway.
Its central office is situated at the historical seat[citation needed] of the Norwegian labour movement,Youngstorget inOslo, in thePeoples' Theatre building. At the main office the elected leadership work together with different political advisors with national campaigns, organisation and political issues. It is co-located with the offices of theOslo andAkershus county wards.
The National Congress assembles every second year, and is the supreme[citation needed] body of the Workers' Youth League. The Congress will also elect the party leadership, consisting of a leader, a deputy leader and a secretary general. These three together with 14 other elected members constitutes the Executive Board. On a day-to-day basis AUF is governed by the Executive Board. The highest body between[citation needed] the Congress is the National Delegate's Board, consisting of two representatives from each of the 19 counties and is observed by the Executive Board.
The party magazine isFrihet, with roots back to 1923.[14]
The organization is a full member[15] of theInternational Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) and theJoint Committee of the Nordic Labour Youth Movement (FNSU). AUF is also an observer member of theYoung European Socialists (YES).
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
