The Green Youth (german: Grüne Jugend, GJ) is the

youth organisation The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. ...

linked to

Bündnis 90/Die Grünen Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (for ...

History

The Grüne Jugend was founded on 16 January 1994, as an independent association with the name Grün-Alternatives Jugendbündnis (abbreviated: GAJB). GRÜNEJugend-GJBS-Satzungsbogen1981

Before 1994 there were, after the first attempts in Niedersachsen like Grüne Jugend

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

, founded in the spring of 1981, several state-based associations, such as the Grüne Jugend

Hessen Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Darm ...

, which had been founded in the spring of 1991. It used and still uses a

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

as its logo. In the same spring the Grün-Alternative Jugend

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

was founded. Parallel to these state-based organisations was the federal Bundesjugendkontaktstelle (Abbreviated: BUJUKS), a loose network of young members and sympathisers of Die Grünen. After several years of debate, a federal green youth organisation was founded, in which the state-based organisations and the BUJUKS all merged. In 2001, the GJ became an integral part of the Die Grünen and lost its independent status.

Ideology

Although it has similar positions to its motherparty, there are some differences. The GJ for instance is in favour of legalisation of all drugs and the use of

free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...

Organization

The GRÜNE JUGEND is a ''Basisgruppe'' within

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

(german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen or ). It has about 15,000 members. Some of these are members of state-based organisations, while others are direct members of the federal organisation. Membership of the youth organisation currently represents about 15% of the membership of the main party. Membership of the organisation ends in the year one becomes 28-years-old. The highest organ of the party is the federal congress, in which all members can participate and vote. It elects the board with two speakers, the editors of the party-magazine, SPUNK and the board of arbitration. There is a strict rule that the board, the two speakers and all other elected groups at any level must consist of at least 50% women, inter or trans persons, same as in the mother party. This is to ensure equal treatment. In the months that the federal congress does not meet a federal council, consisting out of two members per state-based organisations, meets. There are also several thematic fora, which work on specific themes (e.g. Europe, Democracy, Drugs, Equal treatment). The GJ is a member of the

Federation of Young European Greens The Federation of Young European Greens, often referred to as FYEG ( ), is an umbrella organisation that gathers young green movements and organisations across Europe with 40,000 members. FYEG's aim is to defend climate and social justice on the ...

and Global Young Greens

References

External links

Website of the Grüne Jugend
{{Authority control Alliance 90/The Greens Drug policy of Germany Free software Youth wings of political parties in Germany Youth wings of green parties in Europe Youth organizations established in 1994