![Yvonne Ploetz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Yvonne_Ploetz.jpg)
Yvonne Ploetz (born 28 September 1984 in
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...
) is a German politician and member of
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
former member of
The Left (''die Linke''). On 1 February 2010, she became a member of the
German Parliament
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
when she succeeded
Oskar Lafontaine
Oskar Lafontaine (; born 16 September 1943) is a German politician. He served as Minister-President of the state of Saarland from 1985 to 1998, and was federal leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 1995 to 1999. He was the lead candid ...
.
Background and education
After completing her
Realschule
''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...
requirements at the
Gesamtschule
A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...
Gersheim and passing the
Abitur
''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...
in 2004 at the Helmholtz-Gymnasium in Zweibrücken, she attended the
University of Trier
The University of Trier (german: Universität Trier), in the German city of Trier, was founded in 1473. Closed in 1798 by order of the then French administration in Trier, the university was re-established in 1970 after a hiatus of some 172 y ...
, where she studied political science, art history, and sociology. In 2011, she earned her (''Magisterium''), the German equivalent of a master's degree. From 2006 to 2010, she received a scholarship from the
Rosa Luxemburg Foundation
The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (german: Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung), named in recognition of Rosa Luxemburg, occasionally referred to as ''Rosa-Lux'', is a transnational alternative policy lobby group and educational institution, centered in Germa ...
, which is a research foundation associated with The Left. Her research emphasis revolved around east Asian political science, as well as
gender
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...
and
postcolonial studies
Postcolonialism is the Critical theory, critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. More speci ...
. She speaks German, English, French, and Chinese.
Politics
Party politics
At the age of 14, Ploetz became a member of the
Young Union
The Junge Union Deutschlands (''Young Union of Germany'') or JU is the joint
youth organisation of the two conservative Germany, German Political party, political parties, Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU and Christian Social Union in Ba ...
, which is the youth wing of the conservative CDU and CSU parties. She remained a member until 2002. In 2005, she became a member of the
Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), the political successor of the
Socialist Unity Party, which dominated East German politics. In 2007, the PDS merged with other left parties to become
The Left. In November 2005, Ploetz founded the local chapter of The Left in
Blieskastel
Blieskastel () is a city in the Saarpfalz (Saar-Palatinate) district, in Saarland, Germany which is divided into villages. It is situated on the river Blies, approximately southwest of Homburg (Saar), west of Zweibrücken, and east of Saarbrüc ...
, and she has been the chairperson of this chapter ever since. From 2006 to 2008, she was the spokesperson for education in the Saarbrücken statewide chapter of The Left. Since 2008, she has been a member of the executive committee of the Saarbrücken/Rheinland-Pfalz regional party chapter. In October 2010, she was elected to the state committee of the
Left Youth Solid
The Linksjugend solid'' ''(en: Left Youth solid'' is a political youth organisation in Germany. It is the official youth wing of the political party The Left. It was formed in 2007 as the legal successor to solid– die sozialistische jugend (e ...
, which is the official youth wing of The Left. Her focus has been on improvements in youth and education policies.
Public office
In the
2009 German Federal election
Federal elections took place on 27 September 2009 to elect the members of the 17th Bundestag (parliament) of Germany. Preliminary results showed that the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union ...
, held 27 September 2009, Ploetz was third on the party list of The Left in Saarland and was, as a result, not elected to parliament. After the resignation of Oskar Lefontaine, who left parliament for health reasons, Ploetz was able to assume his seat on 1 February 2010 and become a member of parliament. In the 2013 election she stood unsuccessfully in the
Homburg constituency, but was elected from the Saarland land list. She is a regular member of the Committee for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth and a substitute member of the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment.
Political positions
![YvonnePloetz22](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/YvonnePloetz22.jpg)
Plloetz's work lies primarily in the arena of domestic policy, with her core policy interests concerning youth, education, women and the poor. She extensively uses popular media, such as social networks and the internet in general, to disseminate relevant information and concerns related to these policy efforts. She bases her efforts on what is submitted to her from her constituency.
Specifically, Ploetz has called for limitations to executive salaries, the introduction of a nationwide minimum wage, the regulation of internships, the introduction of a fundamental right to education, the full equality of men and women, the end of the nuclear age, lowering the voting age to 16, and the termination of foreign missions for the
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
.
She often combines science and politics. In this style, she criticized, for example, the "
Green Deal" for being too technocratic and not doing enough to consider underlying social contexts,. Additionally, she focused German political attention on the environmental disaster caused by the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...
in the Gulf of Mexico, and was involved in an analysis of the program of the Youth in Science Forum in February 2011.
She also supported education-reform strikes in 2010, and in 2011, she launched the outreach program "Jugend.Arm? Courage!" which sought to address youth poverty. In particular, the initiation of a crash program to combat youth unemployment has been a key policy point. Regarding the German education system, she has criticized the
BAföG as well as the national scholarship program of the federal government, which, she has argued, only further reinforces social inequality, rather than fighting it.
Nowadays she’s a member of
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
and works as an SPD group advisor in the local Parliament of the state of
Saarland
The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...
.
Personal life
Ploetz has a brown belt in Judo and, in 2008, became the Saarland women's leader in the 70 kilogram class.
For many years, she has played soccer with SG Parr Medelsheim. Additionally, she is a member of IG Metall (a metal-workers' union), the Judo Club of Gersheim, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, the Alumni Association of Trier Political Scientists, as well as the Peter Imandt Society.
Footnotes
References
Die Website von Yvonne PloetzYvonne Ploetz auf der Seite der Kampagne Jugend.Arm?Mut!Yvonne Ploetz und ihr Ortsverband BlieskastelYvonne Ploetz auf FacebookYvonne Ploetz auf TwitterYvonne Ploetz auf der Seite der Fraktion DIE LINKE im BundestagYvonne Ploetzauf
abgeordnetenwatch.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ploetz, Yvonne
1984 births
Living people
People from Saarbrücken
University of Trier alumni
Members of the Bundestag for Saarland
German female judoka
Female members of the Bundestag
Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany) politicians
21st-century German women politicians
Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013
Members of the Bundestag for The Left