Communist Student Union

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Communist Student Association (KSV)
KSV logo.png
Federal Chairman: Louis Strasser
Founding: 1972
Website: comunista.at

The Communist Student Union ( KSV for short ) is a communist student organization at Austrian universities and a political faction within the Austrian student body .

history

The KSV was founded in 1972. The previous organization was called the Association of Democratic Students (VDS). On November 29, 1970, all Eurocommunist activists were expelled and the organization was renamed Marxist-Leninist Students (MLS). On December 16, 1971, the “orthodox” supporters of the Communist Party of Austria ( KPÖ ) were expelled, which then founded the Group of Communist Students (GKS), which on October 14, 1972 was renamed KSV.

Split of the KSV

Before the federal congress in July 2006, the KSV was split into two lists, both of which lay claim to the designation KSV. In the course of the preparations for the federal congress, there were statutory disagreements between various currents in the KSV. A part of the Vienna KSV finally boycotted the federal congress and founded the Communist Student Association-Left List (KSV-LiLi) .

In contrast to the KSV-LiLi, the board of the KSV elected at the national congress distanced itself several times from the course of the KPÖ federal board and was more close to the KPÖ Styria and groups that advocate a more traditional course of the KPÖ. While the KSV was mainly based on mandataries, members and activists from Styria, Linz, Vienna, Carinthia and Salzburg, the KSV-LiLi was founded from former members and activists of the KSV Vienna.

In the 2007, 2009 and 2011 ÖH elections, the KSV at the University of Vienna ran as Communist Youth Austria Students - KJÖ , while the KSV-LiLi ran under the Communist Student Association - Left List .

KSV-LiLi has held a mandate in the University Representation of the University of Vienna since 2007. In the ÖH elections in 2009 and 2011, a direct mandate in the federal representation of the Austrian student body was obtained at this university. Furthermore, the KSV-LiLi has been part of the executive at the ÖH Uni Vienna since 2007.

Political positions

The Communist Student Association works closely with the Communist Youth of Austria , the KPÖ Styria and the Labor Party .

The main demands of the KSV are:

  • the abolition of tuition fees without replacement
  • the expansion of existing scholarship programs
  • the installation of comprehensive support services (in the areas of public transport, housing, etc.) from the public sector
  • the withdrawal of the University Act (UG 2002)
  • the abolition of access restrictions and the increase in the budget for universities.

In terms of educational policy, the KSV traditionally stands for free university access and defends the general political mandate of the ÖH . The KSV takes a very critical view of the increased third-party funding of universities by private companies and banks and instead calls for increased funding from state funds. The KSV rejects the Bologna process and advocates the reintroduction of diploma courses.

The KSV sees itself as Marxist-Leninist and represents feminist and anti-racist positions.

Election results

KSV election results (1999-2019)
8th%
6%
4%
2%
0%
99
01
03
05
07
09
11
13
15th
17th
19th

Since the 2005 ÖH elections, the KSV has been represented with a mandate in the federal committee of the Austrian student body .

In the 2007 ÖH election, the KSV lost almost half of its votes after the KSV LiLi split off , but was able to defend its mandate.

In the 2017 ÖH elections, the KSV at the Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz received 10.7 percent of the votes and was thus able to win a second mandate. One mandate was obtained at the Graz University of Technology (6.5 percent) and the Styrian University of Education (11.8 percent).

For the first time in 2019, the KSV won a mandate at the FH Joanneum , where it received 15.4 percent of the votes. Nationwide, top candidate Dario Tabatabai gained 83 votes, while KSV-Lili lost 257 votes. The increased voter turnout resulted in a slight decrease in percentage terms.

Work in the committees

In 2018 at the University of Graz, in cooperation with the two opposition groups JUNOS and AktionGemeinschaft, the affair surrounding the purchase of a Nespresso coffee machine was uncovered by the ÖH executive consisting of independent student council lists , VSStÖ and Green & Alternative students . Both the ÖH chairman and the finance officer had not informed the mandataries of the university representatives or the finance committee about such an acquisition. Finance committee chairman Georg Erkinger from KSV criticized the acquisition massively and calculated the total cost to be more than 40,000 euros within a period of 10 years. When the criticism in the media and social networks grew, the ÖH chairman Bernhard Wieser resigned.

Publications

Unitat is published as a periodical of the Federal KSV at irregular intervals . KSV Graz also publishes two issues of rotcrowd magazine per semester .

Well-known former activists of the KSV

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ots.at: ÖH Uni Wien: Still firmly in the left hand.
  2. ↑ ots.at: ÖH Uni Vienna: For a left and combative ÖH.
  3. ↑ ots.at: ÖH Uni Wien still in the left hand even after 10 years.
  4. ↑ Who we are and what we want . In: Communist Student Union . ( comunista.at [accessed on August 14, 2018]).
  5. ^ ÖH election 2007: One election result - no majorities. Retrieved September 9, 2018 .
  6. ↑ KPÖ Graz | News | Historic result for Grazer KSV . In: KPÖ Graz . ( kpoe-graz.at [accessed June 26, 2017]).
  7. ^ ÖH election 2019 results. Accessed May 31, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Editor: ÖH elections 2019 - Federal mandate held, votes gained! - Communist Student Union. Accessed May 31, 2019 (German).
  9. ↑ Kleine Zeitung: Luxury coffee machine for ÖH officials becomes case for ministry . In: www.kleinezeitung.at . ( kleinezeitung.at [accessed on August 3, 2018]).
  10. ^ ÖH Uni Graz: Chairman resigns - food . In: lining . April 13, 2018 ( kleinezeitung.at [accessed on August 3, 2018]).

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