The International Socialist Alternative (), formerly Socialist Left Party (german: Sozialistische LinksPartei, SLP) is the Austrian section of

International Socialist Alternative International Socialist Alternative is an international association of Trotskyist political parties. The group was founded in 1974 as the Committee for a Workers' International, by supporters of Militant from 12 countries. In August 2019, a f ...

. The party originated in the 1980s, when the forerunner "''Sozialistische Offensive Vorwärts''" emerged from the far-left wing of the Socialist Youth of Austria. It later transformed itself during the protests against the participation of the

FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"A ...

in the Austrian government in 2000 into SLP, forming itself as a party at a conference on January 30, 2000. In 2002, it ran in federal elections for the '' Nationalrat''; however, it was unable to win a seat. The ISA has several professed goals as part of their party plan for reform: social justice on a national and global level; a stop to the

neo-liberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

government's spending cuts and privatisation schemes; gender equality and equality for LGBTQAI+ persons; an end to

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

, and all forms of

xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

; protection of the environment; as well as other topics relating to

anti-globalisation The anti-globalization movement or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalis ...

. The party is also

anti-EU Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek refor ...

on the basis of it serving only the interests of the ruling class. They however are in favour of a 'workers' EU' run in the interests of working people. The ISA aims to help found an alternative to

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

and what it terms the "bureaucratic-centralist" or " Stalinist" KPÖ. As a section of the International Socialist Alternative it has a

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

analysis which rejects Stalinism as well the

cultural revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

approach of

Maoism Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

. It also rejects

, which it believes has become bourgeois. The ISA defines itself as a young, revolutionary pro-labour party. In 2001, the party (under the then-name SLP) stood in elections in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and received 100 voters, 0.01% of the vote in communal elections of 2001. However, since the SLP put itself up for votes in only one district (''Zentrum''), this equates to relatively 0.18% of all votes. The party campaigned also in other districts such as

Margareten Margareten (; bar, Magredn) is the fifth district of Vienna (german: 5. Bezirk, Margareten). It is near the old town of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later.Favoriten (0.19%) and

Brigittenau Brigittenau () is the 20th district of Vienna (german: 20. Bezirk, Brigittenau). It is located north of the central districts, north of Leopoldstadt on the same island area between the Danube and the Danube Canal. Brigittenau is a heavily popul ...

(0.28%); however, neither result was enough to qualify for a seat. In 2022, the SLP renamed itself to International Socialist Alternative, reflecting the character of the ISA as an international organisation.

Campaigns

Socialist Left Party activists have been prominent in defending abortion rights. In 2003, after writing an article criticizing the methods of anti-abortion group

Human Life International Human Life International (HLI) is a Roman Catholic, U.S.-based anti-abortion organization. It is one of the largest anti-abortion organizations in the United States. It describes itself as "the largest international pro-life organization in the w ...

(HLI), ISA member Claudia Sorger was taken to court, but won her case on July 10, 2003. ISA members have also been prominent in a campaign at the Hellas Kagran football club against

Martin Graf Martin Graf (born 11 May 1960) is an Austrian politician. He is a member of the Freedom Party of Austria and former third president of the Austrian Parliament. Biography Graf was born in Vienna and studied law at the University of Vienna. He ...

, a senior figure in the far-right

party, who was accused of using the training facilities for a party election rally. Lucia and Margarita Döller were suspended from playing for the club by an ally of Graf senior in the club for allegedly 'bringing the club into disrepute'. This included their participation in a demonstration against Graf being made the 3rd deputy speaker of

Austrian parliament The Austrian Parliament (german: Österreichisches Parlament) is the bicameral federal legislature of the Austrian Republic. It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene ...

. In addition, members of the AC Mauer U-18s, most prominently Sebastian Kugler, wore T-shirts protesting against this decision whilst warming up for a match against Hellas Kagran U-18s and were subsequently served with four-match suspensions by the Viennese Football Association. In a strange twist, the players were charged according to its rules regarding "''racism and other prejudices''", whilst the players facing disciplinary measures insist they were campaigning against a racist. In the 2013 legislative election the party fielded a number of candidates that were legally unable to vote in Austria, in support of refugees.Der wahre Terror geht vom Kapitalismus aus
, ''

Der Standard ''Der Standard'' is an Austrian daily newspaper published in Vienna. History and profile ''Der Standard'' was founded by Oscar Bronner as a financial newspaper and published its first edition on 19 October 1988. German media company Axel Sprin ...

'', 18 July 2013.

References

External links

* {{Austrian political parties 2000 establishments in Austria Political parties established in 2000 Anti-fascist organizations Anti-racist organizations in Europe Communist parties in Austria Eurosceptic parties in Austria

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Trotskyist organizations in Europe