La Forja - Jovent Revolucionari (''The Forge - Revolutionary Youth'') is a

left-wing 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 ...

Catalan independence The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The beginning ...

youth organization that is active in all the

Catalan Countries The Catalan Countries ( ca, països catalans, , ) refers to those territories where the Catalan language is spoken. They include the Spanish regions of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Valencia, and parts of Aragon (''La Franja'') and Murcia ...

. La Forja is part of the

Popular Unity Candidacy–Constituent Call The Popular Unity Candidacy ( ca, Candidatura d'Unitat Popular, , CUP) is a left-wing to far-left pro- Catalan independence political party active primarily in Catalonia, where it has political representation, but also in other autonomous communit ...

(CUP-CC) coalition and has very close ties with the political party

Poble Lliure Poble Lliure (English: ''Free People'') is a Catalan socialist and independentist political organisation, which forms part of the Independentist Catalan Left. Poble Lliure was founded in November 2014 from historical militants of the Movement for ...

History

Creation of Arran and split

Before 2012, the left-wing Catalan independence movement had two youth organizations: Maulets-JIR and CAJEI. The first was founded in 1999 through the union of Maulets (the youth wing of Catalunya Lliure) and the Catalan Revolutionary Youth (JIR, youth of

People's Unity Assembly The People's Unity Assembly (Catalan: ''Assemblea d'Unitat Popular'', AUP) was an independentist organisation and movement active between 1993 and 1996. The AUP was created by the Movement for Defence of the Land- IDP Faction (MDT-IDP), militants ...

). The second group was created in 2002 by members of

Endavant Endavant–Organització Socialista d'Alliberament Nacional (in Catalan: ''Forward–Socialist Organisation of National Liberation'', Endavant (OSAN); commonly referred to only as Endavant) is an independentist, socialist and feminist Spanish p ...

. Both organizations merged in 2012 creating Arran. Soon after the merge, some ex-members of Maulets-JIR (especially those close to the

Movement for Defence of the Land The Movement for the Defence of the Land (Catalan: ''Moviment de Defensa de la Terra'', MDT) was the united front of the socialist independence organisations of the Catalan Countries; specifically the Socialist Party of National Liberation (PSAN), ...

), started to consider that the leadership of the new organization was following the political line of CAJEI. These ex-members of Maulets-JIR became involved in the creation of the youth of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), the National Assembly of Pro-Independence Youth (ANJI). Due to this, they were threatened with expulsion from Arran. In 2014, groups of ex-Maulets created, along with other youth organizations, the Estudiants 9N movement, which organized a

student strike Campus protest or student protest is a form of student activism that takes the form of protest at university campuses. Such protests encompass a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or academ ...

to support the unofficial self-determination referendum. During the referendum campaign, some local chapters of Arran (

Arbúcies Arbúcies is a village in the province of Girona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The municipality covers an area of with a population of 6481 in 2014. History Arbúcies was populated by the Iberians and later by the Romans. In t ...

, for example) made posters promoting a 'Yes' vote; the leadership of Arran ordered that these posters be withdrawn. At the national assembly of that year, most members of Arran voted to expel those who had participated in the

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

. Their objection stems from the ANC's stance to fight only for the independence of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

and not all of the

. The vote was not valid because it did not reach the 70% of necessary quorum. This vote caused a split in Arran, with various local groups leaving the organization, including Alt Maresme,

València Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area also ...

, Castelló de la Plana, Badalona,

Cerdanyola del Vallès Cerdanyola del Vallès () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the north side of the Collserola ridge. The town is served by the A-7 and C-58 motorways, the N-150 road and the Renf ...

and

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capital ...

Creation of the Youth Assemblies for Popular Unity

On 28 December 2015, the Assemblies of the Alt Empordà, Alt Maresme, Badalona,

Berguedà Berguedà () is an inland comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain, lying partly in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, and partly in the Catalan Central Depression. Geography The northern half of Berguedà, known as Alt Berguedà (“Upper Berguedà� ...

Mataró Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the ''comarca'' of the Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia Autonomous Community, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and ...

and

Sants Sants is a neighbourhood in the southern part of Barcelona. It belongs to the district of Sants-Montjuïc and is bordered by the districts of Eixample to the northeast, Les Corts to the northwest, and by the municipality of l'Hospitalet de Llobr ...

celebrated the Founding Congress of the Youth Assemblies for Popular Unity (AJUP) in the town of

Celrà Celrà is a village in the province of Girona and autonomous community of Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its ...

. The political declaration of AJUP declared the Catalan Countries independentism, Marxist socialism,

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and

ecologism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health se ...

as the main ideological lines of the organization. AJUP also considered the

CUP A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

as its "political reference".

Foundation of La Forja

In the second National Congress of AJUP, held on 3 and 4 February 2018 in

Canet de Mar Canet de Mar () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Maresme in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the coast between Arenys de Mar and Sant Pol de Mar. and el Montnegre ranges. It is a tourist centre, but is also known for the cultivatio ...

, the organization was refounded as La Forja - Jovent Revolucionari. At the time of the foundation they were present in the ''

comarques This is a list of the 42 ''comarques'' (singular ''comarca'', , ) into which Catalonia is divided. A ''comarca'' is a group of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the US or a district or council in the UK. However, in the context ...

'' of Alt Empordà,

Barcelonès Barcelonès () is the most economically important comarca (county) of Catalonia, Spain. It contains Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of ...

Gironès Gironès (; es, Gironés) is a comarca (county) in eastern Catalonia, Spain, bordering Selva, Baix Empordà, Alt Empordà, Pla de l'Estany and Garrotxa. , more than half of the comarca's 175,148 inhabitants live in the capital, Girona, which ...

Maresme Maresme () is a '' comarca'' (county) located along the Catalan Mediterranean coast in Spain, between the ''comarques'' of Barcelonès (at the Southwest) and Selva (at the Northeast), and also bordering with Vallès Oriental (at the west). It ...

Segarra Segarra () is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca (county) in Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Catalonia, Spain, situated on a high plain. Historically, the name referred to a larger area than the current comarca. It has a continental climate, wi ...

Tarragonès Tarragonès () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of the three comarques formed in the 1936 comarcal division of Camp de Tarragona. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, between the comarques of Baix Penedès to the northeast an ...

Vallès Occidental Vallès Occidental () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. Sabadell and Terrassa are the comarcal capitals. Along with Vallès Oriental it forms the grand comarca of Vallès, and is part of the Barcelona metropolitan area. Physical geogr ...

and

Terres de l'Ebre Terres de l'Ebre (, literally in English 'The Ebre Lands') is one of the seven territories defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia. It is located in the south-west of Catalonia, in the southern part of river Ebre, and will be formed by four co ...

. La Forja is part of

, Platform for the Right to Decide of the Valencian Country and the youth of the Catalan National Assembly. La Forja is also very close to

and the

Intersindical-CSC The Intersindical – Confederació Sindical Catalana (or simply Intersindical-CSC) is an independentist trade union from Catalonia, founded in 1990. It is a member of the World Federation of Trade Unions, the second most important internation ...

trade union. On 10 April 2018, two members of La Forja were arrested by the

Mossos d'Esquadra The ''Mossos d'Esquadra'' (; en, Squad), also known as the ''Policia de la Generalitat de Catalunya'' and informally as ''Mossos'', is the autonomous police force responsible for law enforcement in Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. ...

in an operation against the CDRs, both being released the next day. Another 3 members of the organization are being investigated, accused of "damages and coercion", by the Spanish Justice since October 2018. La Forja has denounced these cases as part of a repressive strategy against the

Catalan independence movement The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The beginnings ...

.El jutjat investiga tres activistes més per coaccions i danys per les pintades a la subdelegació del govern

Diari de Girona ''Diari de Girona'' () is a Catalan daily newspaper, based in Girona, Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its ...

, 18 October 2018.

References

{{Catalan nationalism

External links

Official website
Secessionist organizations in Europe Youth organisations based in Spain Catalan independence movement Politics of Catalonia Youth wings of political parties in Spain