Bjørnar Moxnes (born 19 December 1981) is a Norwegian politician and activist representing the left-wing political party

Rødt The Red Party ( nb, Rødt; nn, Raudt; sme, Ruoksat) is a political party in Norway. It was founded in March 2007 by a merger of the Red Electoral Alliance and the Workers' Communist Party. A Marxist party, it has been described as left-wing ...

Stortinget The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years b ...

. Moxnes opposes the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

, characterizing Norway's participation in the EEA as undemocratic. Moxnes describes himself as a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

Biography

Moxnes grew up in

Nordstrand, Norway Nordstrand () is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. It borders Gamle Oslo in the north, Østensjø in the east and Søndre Nordstrand in the south. The borough is located in the southern part of the city and with a population of 52,459 peop ...

, with his parents. His mother was a health scientist, and his father worked in a kindergarten. He became politically active after neonazis started to stand out in the city in the 1990s. Later, he became part of the radical community in

Oslo Cathedral School Schola Osloensis, known in Norwegian as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",Red Youth.

Education

Moxnes has a degree in sociology from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

. His master's thesis ''Med makt i Bagasjen, En analyse av politkerelitens yrkesmobilitet'' (With Power in the Luggage, An Analysis of the Political Elite's occupational mobility) was about politicians changing careers to PR, a subject Moxnes was very interested in as a politician.

Leadership in Red Youth

In 2004, Moxnes after two years of being a secretary, was chosen to become the leader of Red Youth. As a leader, Moxnes represented Red Youth in the

Supreme Court of Norway The Supreme Court of Norway ( Norwegian Bokmål: ''(Norges) Høyesterett''; Norwegian Nynorsk: ''(Noregs) Høgsterett''; lit. ‘Highest Court’) was established in 1815 on the basis of section 88 in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway, w ...

, where the organisation was sentenced for publishing schoolbooks for free on the internet. Moxnes got eight place in

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

's ranking of the country's biggest political talents.

Politician and party leader of Red

After Moxnes stepped down as leader of Red Youth, he got elected to the leadership of Red Electoral Alliance. After the establishment of the party Red in 2007, Moxnes was elected into the leadership. In 2010, he was chosen as vice president of Red, and on 6 May 2012, he replaced

Turid Thomassen Turid Thomassen (born 19 April 1965) is a Norwegian politician who was party leader of the Norwegian Red party from 2010 to 2012, succeeding Torstein Dahle. Born in Stathelle, Telemark, Thomassen works in the administration offices of the Depar ...

as the party's president. In 2011, Moxnes was elected to Oslo's council. He has since then been a very central politician in many Oslo-situations for defending Oslo University Hospital, protesting against the sculpture park in Ekebergskogen, and was against the Olympics in Oslo for the 2022 Olympics. During the national elections in 2013 and 2017, Moxnes was the first candidate for Red in the Oslo district, and in 2017, he was elected as a representative in

Lindebergsaken

In March 2014, the Oslo council decided to report Moxnes for violating the duty of confidentiality, after a leaking in the Lindeberg-situation. In November 2011, health worker Stig Berntsen was accused of abuse towards multiple patients at the Lindebergs Omsorgssenter, where he worked as a health worker and had a duty of trust. He was charged by the police, where they investigated the accusations, and Berntsen was temporarily removed from his position. It was quickly obvious that the Oslo Municipality Nursing Administration were not following their own routines for abuse situations. The police dropped charges in June 2012. Berntsen did not get his position at Lindeberg back, but did receive the authorization as a health professional. Kommunerevisjonen researched the case and released a report which had scornful critique against the Oslo council. In June 2013,

Fagforbundet The Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees ( no, Fagforbundet) is a trade union in Norway. It has a membership of 395,000 and is affiliated with the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions ...

issued a summons against the Oslo council with demands that Berntsen regained his job. In November of the same year, the council retreated. After two rounds of mediation, Berntsen got his job back, and received 410 000 crowns in compensation for lost wages. On 24 January 2014, Moxnes publicized the Kommunerevisjonen-report. On 5 March, a majority in the Oslo council reported Moxnes for violating his duty of confidentiality. Moxnes himself argued that he had done nothing unlawful, and that the report was an attempt to gag a politician who was part of the opposition. Arne Jensen, the General Secretary in

Norsk Redaktørforening The Association of Norwegian Editors ( no, Norsk Redaktørforening, NR) is an interest group for editors and middle managers in the various Norwegian media.Østbye, Helge. 2007. The Norwegian Media Landscape. In: Georgios Terzis (ed.), ''European ...

, characterized the report as unworthy. Jan Fridthjof Bernt, a law professor, claimed that Moxnes had not broken his duty. Stig Berntsen even came out in support of Moxnes. Before the trial, Moxnes stated that "I will not be instructed or gagged by decisions the others make. I refuse to accept that other politicians hide information that is important for patients and other workers, which is important for the rule of law." The case landed in the

Oslo District Court Oslo District Court ( no, Oslo tingrett) is a district court located in Oslo, Norway. This court is based at the Oslo Courthouse in the city of Oslo. The court serves the entire city of Oslo and the court is subordinate to the Borgarting Court of ...

, and on 15 September, Moxnes was acquitted. The court heavily stressed that the information that was released in the report did not contain information that identified the persons involved. Moxnes characterized the acquittal as a victory for

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

, and stated that he intends to use it in further struggle for increased transparency. At the awarding of the Norwegian Press Association's Flavius Prize on 26 January 2016, Moxnes received an honorable mention. He got the Vote of the Year from NATT&DAG.

Politics

Economics

Moxnes opposes right-wing economics, believing that most other parties in Stortinget undermine worker's rights and transfer power from the workers to the rich. He argues for a democratic economy, which he believes is not possible under capitalism. He stated in 2017 that he believes that just like how the people can choose the government, they should be able to choose their leadership in the workplace. He argues that the Conservative Party serves to secure the capitalist rights of the rich minority, where the small elite has too much power over Norway's most important national resources. He explicitly states that the party is not

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

, but

, separating themselves from Rødt's predecessor AKP's Maoist roots. He describes socialism as a system where power and wealth is distributed fairly, instead of allowing a small elite to own as much wealth as half of the population on Earth. Moxnes believes that the wages for politicians in Stortinget is too high, and wants to reduce the wages. Moxnes argues that because the wages are too high, the politicians in government become too disconnected from the general populace, and that reducing it will assist politicians in creating fairer policies. When the Labour Party and the Centre Party elected to freeze wages, he stated that, "If I was Støre (Labour) or Vedum (Centre), I would be embarrassed.", and pushed for reductions in the wages.

EEA/European Union

Moxnes opposes the EEA, arguing that the deal with the EEA is undemocratic, and that it transfers power from elected assemblies in Norway to the EU. He characterizes the EEA as a croft deal. Moxnes argues that policies that would help Norwegian workers and assist against social dumping are blocked by undemocratic laws enforced by the European Union.

Climate

Moxnes believes that capitalism is one of the main causes of

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

, arguing that capitalism will not create solutions to solve climate change.

Personal life

He was married to Kjerstin Aukrust from 2014 until they announced their separation in July 2022. Around the same time, he announced that he was in a relationship with Lina Aas-Eng. Together with Aukrust, he has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moxnes, Bjoernar 1981 births Living people Red Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo University of Oslo alumni Norwegian communists