The Socialist Students of Austria (, VSStÖ) is a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

student organization at

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

History

The preliminary organization of the VSStÖ was formed in 1893 in Vienna. In the beginning, it was more a student

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

that was sympathetic to young workers and the union movement. It fought for general elections in which both men and women could vote, free access to universities, and against bourgeoisie

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

. The resistance to

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

and

anti-semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

movements at universities led to discrimination and attacks against members of the Socialist Students and led finally to the prohibition of the VSStÖ during the

Austrofascism The Fatherland Front (, VF) was the right-wing conservative, authoritarian, nationalist, corporatist, fascist and Catholic ruling political organisation of the Federal State of Austria. It claimed to be a nonpartisan movement, and aimed to unite ...

period until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the liberation from the

National Socialists Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

by the Allied Forces in 1945, the Socialist Students were actively involved in the foundation of democratic student representation, which was established in 1946 as the Austrian National Union of Students. On the ideological basis of

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

, the VSStÖ has subsequently fought for free and open access to universities, sufficient social funds for students,

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

, and has taken an active role in the

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

movement as well as the

anti-globalisation The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...

Organization and activities

The VSStÖ is active nationwide and has chapters in all university cities. Their members run in students union elections every two years at every university levels. In a

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

with the Greens, the VSStÖ became the president of the national Student Union in 2001 and remained in this position until 2007. Since 2007, the VSStÖ is in coalition with the Greens and varying independent groups ( Fachschaftsliste or FEST). The VSStÖ's international activities include being a member of the

Young European Socialists Young European Socialists (YES), formerly the European Community Organisation of Socialist Youth (ECOSY), is an association of social democracy, social democratic youth organisations in Europe and the European Union. YES is the youth organisa ...

(YES) and

International Union of Socialist Youth The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) is an international youth labour organization, whose activities include publications, supporting member organizations and organization of meetings. Originally named the Socialist Youth Internatio ...

(IUSY).

External links

References

{{ECOSY member organisations Student wings of political parties in Austria Student wings of social democratic parties