Aufstehen (German: ''Stand up'') is a left-wing collective movement founded by

Die Linke The Left (german: Die Linke; stylised as and in its logo as ), commonly referred to as the Left Party (german: Die Linkspartei, links=no ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of th ...

politician Sahra Wagenknecht in the summer of 2018. Its co-founders and participants include leading members of Germany's left-oriented parties as well as supporters from science and the arts. Their aim is to exert pressure on German political parties and to bring about a shift to the left in politics and society. This includes focusing on the issues concerning voters lost to new right-wing movements which have recently emerged in German politics. Inspirations for the movement include Jean-Luc Mélenchon's movement La France Insoumise and

Momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass an ...

, the organisation founded in support of the British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Founding

The founding of the movement had been debated for months when its website was launched on 4 August 2018. It was officially launched on 4 September 2018 at a press conference in Berlin. Among the founders are members of The Left, the SPD and the

Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...

. Notable figures involved include the sociologist Wolfgang Streeck and SPD politician Simone Lange, who was defeated for the leadership of the party in 2018 by Andrea Nahles. The background to the founding of the movement is the surge of right-wing parties worldwide, including Germany. The founders of Aufstehen argue against the rise in social injustice and urge leftist parties to unite in order to bring about a change in German politics. Wagenknecht has also stated that the continuation of the

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are t ...

of the CDU/CSU and the SPD after the 2017 federal election was also a stimulus to the founding of the movement, arguing that this would lead to a continuation of policies that would increase economic inequality and insecurity and benefit far-right groups such as the

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...

Policies

Aufstehen, an "extreme left" collective, is according to some media " hostile toward immigration". Wagenknecht, who advocates "against an open-border policy for Germany", considers open borders to be politically naïve.

References

External links

Official website
2018 establishments in Germany Anti-immigration politics in Germany Left-wing politics in Germany Organizations established in 2018 Political movements in Germany Political organisations based in Germany {{Germany-poli-stub