Workers' Communist Party (Norway)

Workers' Communist Party

Arbeidernes Kommunistparti
Workers' Communist Party Arbeidernes Kommunistparti
Founded	1973
Dissolved	2007
Merged into	Red Party
Headquarters	Oslo
Youth wing	Red Youth
Electoral front	Red Electoral Alliance
Ideology	Communism; Marxism–Leninism; Mao Zedong Thought; Anti-revisionism;
Political position	Far-left
International affiliation	ICMLPO
Website
	akp.no
	Politics of Norway; Political parties; Elections;

The Workers' Communist Party (

Maoist party and one of two communist parties in Norway; the other was the older Communist Party of Norway

which had remained pro-Soviet. The relationship between the two parties was characterized by strong hostility.

AKP was founded in 1973, as Arbeidernes Kommunistparti (marxist-leninistene). It did not participate directly in elections, but members had "activity duty", meaning that they were to work for the party's goals – passive members were not accepted. The precise number of its members is unknown.[1] On 22 February 2006, the party opened some of its archives to the public, in a move the party argued was to hit out at all the rumours surrounding the party.

It was a predecessor of the current party the Red Party, founded on 10 March 2007.

History

Two trends led to the formation of AKP(m–l):

The radical movements of
Vietnam war.^[1]^[2]

The

China

, which caused an ideological crisis among an older generation of communists.

The founders of AKP(m–l) came from what was then known as SUF, or

Sosialistisk Folkeparti

, but broke away in 1969 as it developed into a marxist-leninist direction. Following the split SUF was renamed SUF(m–l).

As a result of the activity duty, many party members practiced "self-proletarisation" on the party's orders, working as manual labourers, especially in the period from 1974 to 1976. Later, the party encouraged its well-educated members to take work as teachers, particularly in higher education.

As a part of their policy, AKP members have joined and tried to influence several voluntary organisations in socialist direction, particularly those related to "feminism", labor unions and anti-racism.

AKP did not put its name on election ballots, choosing instead to work through Red Electoral Alliance (RV), originally AKPs electoral face, but from 1990 a party of its own without any formal link to AKP, though most of AKPs members were also members of RV.

In March 2007, AKP and

marxist-leninist

party.

publisher. From early 2000s the party published the monthly newspaper akp.no, named after the party's website, and throughout its existence it published a quarterly magazine for Marxist debate, first named Røde Fane (Red Standard), then from 2005 Rødt! (Red! – this name might have inspired the name of the new party). The newspaper akp.no continues as Red's party newspaper, under the name Rødt Nytt

(Red News). The magazine Rødt! is continued under the ownership of the party Red. In 2017, it changed its name to Gnist.

Controversy

Part of a series on
Nordic M-L Movement
Organisations

Denmark: KAP

OF(ml)

Finland: MLG
Iceland: EIK(m-l)
Norway: AKP(m-l)

Sweden: KFML
Personalities

Pål Steigan

Nils Holmberg

Ideologies

Communism
Marxism–Leninism

Maoism

Communism Portal
v
t
e

AKP and the Norwegian ML-movement were at times criticised for support of Marxist and communist regimes in other parts of the world, including the regimes of Joseph Stalin, and Pol Pot.^[4] AKP openly endorsed the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia, and when that party's forces invaded Phnom Penh, Klassekampen had "Long live the free Cambodia" as their front page headline. Support from AKP continued in spite of the killings which were reported during Pol Pot's rule. At that time, AKP considered these reports to be a part of a smear campaign against the new regime, and AKP had delegations visiting the country.^[5]
Much of the party's inner workings have been clandestine in nature, for instance the precise number of members is kept secret. The party program has been considered violent and extreme since it called for armed revolution before 1990, and kept the possibility of having to "defend the revolution with arms" open since.^[4]
In 2003, two former members of the party's leadership, Finn Sjue and Egil Fossum, apologized for the totalitarian culture in the party.^[4]

Party leaders

Sigurd Allern 1973–1975

Pål Steigan 1975–1984

Kjersti Ericsson 1984–1988

Siri Jensen 1988–1992

Solveig Aamdal 1992–1997

Jorun Gulbrandsen 1997–2006

Ingrid Baltzersen 2006–2007

See also

Rød Front

References

^ "They worshipped Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot", article in Aftenposten.

^ Freedom of speech as bread and butter, article in Dagbladet

^ Mao, min Mao, by Hans Petter Sjøli. Book about AKP(m–l), published in 2005.

^ "Vietnam War: Causes, Facts & Impact". HISTORY. 2023-03-28. Retrieved 2024-03-25.

ISSN 0254-1106
.

^ TNP (2013-12-24). "A Mysterious and Radical Party in Norwegian Political History: AKP". The Nordic Page. Retrieved 2024-03-25.

^ ^a ^b ^c De dyrket Mao, Stalin og Pol Pot (They worshiped Mao, Stalin and Pol Pot), Aftenposten, August 28, 2005 (in Norwegian)

^ Blodbadet i Kambodsja Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine (the bloodbath in Cambodia) forskning.no, Harald Aastorp, January 4, 2005(in Norwegian)

External links

(in Norwegian) Arbeidernes kommunistparti – official website

(in English) Workers' Communist Party – website in English

(in Norwegian) ml-historie.no – party archives

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Workers%27_Communist_Party_(Norway)&oldid=1215870607"

[1] "Vietnam War: Causes, Facts & Impact". HISTORY. 2023-03-28. Retrieved 2024-03-25.

[2] ISSN 0254-1106
.

[3] TNP (2013-12-24). "A Mysterious and Radical Party in Norwegian Political History: AKP". The Nordic Page. Retrieved 2024-03-25.

[worship-4] De dyrket Mao, Stalin og Pol Pot (They worshiped Mao, Stalin and Pol Pot), Aftenposten, August 28, 2005 (in Norwegian)

[5] Blodbadet i Kambodsja Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine (the bloodbath in Cambodia) forskning.no, Harald Aastorp, January 4, 2005(in Norwegian)

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