Why the Dutch Socialist Party Is in Crisis
In the late 2000s the Dutch Socialist Party was a success story, having risen from a small Maoist group into a 50,000-member party. But a split with its youth wing and talk of a coalition with right-wingers have demoralized activists — and shown the dangers of a parliamentary party becoming unmoored from labor and social movements.
Dutch Socialist Party members at a march. international.sp.nl
The Dutch Socialist Party (SP) was long one of the success stories of the European left. Having started out as a Maoist group in the 1970s, it made its breakthrough into national politics in the 1990s, even as Communist parties collapsed and social democracy embraced neoliberalism across the continent.
Around the turn of the millennium, the SP opened up to social movements and established itself as a reference point for left-wing activists. Its membership grew rapidly, and by the late 2000s, it had 50,000 members — twice as many as 10 years before. In 2006, it won over 16 per cent of the vote.
Yet despite the SP’s past successes, today its prospects do not look good. With the Netherlands set for a general election in March, the SP is divided, and uncertain on how to reverse its recent decline.
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