Frit Forum - Social Democratic Students of Denmark ( da, Frit Forum – socialdemokratiske studerende, or just ''Frit Forum'') is the student organization of the Danish Social Democrats. It was established in 1943 during the Nazi occupation of Denmark as a means of reaching out to the growing number of students in the

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

. Since then, it has had a decisive impact on

Danish politics The politics of Denmark take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state in which the monarch of Denmark, Queen Margrethe II, is the head of state. Denmar ...

, fostering many

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

s and influential

Social Democrats 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 so ...

. Former PES-

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen Poul Oluf Nyrup Rasmussen (, informally Poul Nyrup, born 15 June 1943) is a retired Danish politician. Rasmussen was Prime Minister of Denmark from 25 January 1993 to 27 November 2001 and President of the Party of European Socialists (PES) from ...

, former

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

frontrunner to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Dan Jørgensen Dan Jannik Jørgensen (born 12 June 1975) is a Danish politician of the Social Democrats who is has been serving as Ministry for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy in the government of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen since 2022 ...

, and former Minister of Finance

Mogens Lykketoft Mogens Lykketoft (; born 9 January 1946) is a Danish politician who served as Leader of the Social Democrats (''Socialdemokraterne'') from 2002 to 2005. He succeeded Poul Nyrup Rasmussen as party leader. After losing the 2005 parliamentary elec ...

began their paths in Frit Forum. It compares to the

Labour Students Labour Students is a student organisation within the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. It is a network of affiliated college and university clubs, known as Labour Clubs, who campaign in their campuses and communities for Labour's values of e ...

in the UK. After peaking in the 1950s and 1960s, it was struck by the

radicalization Radicalization (or radicalisation) is the process by which an individual or a group comes to adopt increasingly views in opposition to a political, social, or religious status quo. The ideas of society at large shape the outcomes of radicalizat ...

of the

political left Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

among Danish students. As in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Sweden, several members left for radical movements on the left, but in opposition to the or the , Frit Forum survived, primarily as a result of being merged with the social democratic youth organization DSU in 1973. In 2003, this caused a conflict within the organization, as the DSU felt Frit Forum was not fulfilling its obligations at the universities. Instead, they threatened to launch a new social democratic Student network, called SSN. Following devastating internal disputes, it was saved by the president of the Danish Social Democrats,

, himself being former president of Frit Forum. Since then, the climate between the two organizations has bettered. Over the years, Frit Forum has held meetings and conferences with both the

(England) and

S-studenter The Social Democratic Students of Sweden ( sv, Socialdemokratiska Studentförbundet ; S-Studenter) is the student organisation of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. The organisations acronym is SSF, this acronym is most commonly used in internati ...

(Sweden).

External links

''Sources (in English):''

Official homepage of Frit Forum in English.

Background information on Poul Nyrup.

PES information about Frit Forum. ''Sources (in Danish):''

Official homepage of Frit Forum in Danish

Article on Mogens Lykketoft in Information.

Background information on Danish Social Democratic leaders. {{ECOSY member organisations Political parties established in 1943 Political parties in Denmark Social Democrats (Denmark) Student political organizations Youth wings of social democratic parties Youth wings of political parties in Denmark 1943 establishments in Denmark

See also

External links