Lucy Redler

Lucy Redler (born 17 August 1979) is a German politician, Socialist Alternative activist, and member of the Left Party. From 2005 to 2007, Redler served on the executive committee of the Berlin section of the Labor and Social Justice List (WASG), and she was its chief candidate in the 2006 Berlin state elections. The German media has given Redler the nickname "Red Lucy".[1][2][3][4]

Lucy Redler
Redler
Born (1979-08-17) 17 August 1979
Hann. Münden, Lower Saxony, West Germany (now Germany)
NationalityGerman
OccupationPolitician

Early life

Redler was born on 17 August 1979, in Hann. Münden, near Kassel, in Lower Saxony. She is the daughter of a social worker and a pediatric nurse. She first became active in politics through anti-fascist demonstrations. At the age of 15, she became involved with the group Youth against Racism in Europe, which was organized by the Trotskyist group Socialist Alternative (SAV) and other sections of the CWI. Redler studied political economy at the Hamburg University for Economy and Politics.[5]

Political career

Remaining in Hamburg following her graduation, she became a local spokesperson for "Youth against War", an anti-Iraq War group close to the SAV.[6] In the 2002 German federal elections, Redler ran in a Hamburg district as an SAV candidate for the Bundestag. In the 2004 Hamburg state election, she ran on the electoral list of Regenbogen ("Rainbow"), which was a local electoral alliance of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), Communist Party (DKP), and SAV.[7]

In 2005, Redler moved to Berlin and became editor of the SAV newspaper, Solidarität. In November of that year, she was elected to the executive committee of the WASG's Berlin section.[5] She then ran as the head candidate of the WASG in the September 2006 Berlin state elections.[8] The Berlin WASG campaign was controversial, since its candidates directly challenged the slate of the PDS, which was allied with the WASG. Redler openly criticized the role of PDS politicians as participants in the state government.[9][10] In November 2006, she was elected to the National Committee of the WASG; however, seven months later, the organization voted to merge with the PDS and form the Left Party.

Critical of the terms of the WASG-PDS merger, Redler initially attempted to organize a group that was autonomous from the Left Party in Berlin, known as the Berlin Alternative for Solidarity and Justice (BASG).[11] However, in September 2008, the SAV instructed its East German and Berlin members to join the Left Party. Redler applied for membership in the party, which fueled controversy because of her past activities. The issue even appeared in the pages of major newspapers, such as Der Spiegel, Die Welt, and the Berliner Morgenpost.[12][13][14] Because of opposition from some leaders of the Left Party, she was not accepted as a member of the party until August 2010.[15][16] Since 2016, Redler is elected member of the Parteivorstand (National Executive Committee) of the Left Party.[17]

References
  1. Peter Dausend, "Lucy und ihre Bande", Die Welt (11 March 2006).
  2. Hildburg Bruns, "Linke wollen rote Lucy nicht", Bild (22 October 2008).
  3. "Weiter Kampf gegen rote Lucy", Bild (30 October 2008).
  4. Was will die rote Lucy?: Ein Gespräch mit der Rebellin Redler (Edition Ost, 2007).
  5. "Zur Person", official campaign biography (28 July 2006).
  6. "SchülerInnenstreik legt Hamburg lahm" (25 March 2003)
  7. Lucy Redler Archived 2009-05-18 at the Wayback Machine - Regenbogen website biography.
  8. "Tarifvertrag für die Charité – jetzt!", press release by Redler (28 August 2006).
  9. "Vital stage for the left in Germany", Socialism Today (April–May 2006).
  10. Lucas Adler and Ulrich Rippert, "Germany: Election Alternative prepares for merger with Left Party", World Socialist Web Site (24 November 2006).
  11. Katrin Schoelkopf, "Lucy Redler tritt in die Linke ein", Berlin Morgenpost (12 September 2008).
  12. Katharina Peters, "Linke hadern mit der roten Lucy", Der Spiegel (28 October 2008)
  13. "Linkspartei-Vize kämpft gegen Redlers Beitritt", Welt Online (29 October 2008)
  14. Joachim Fahrun, "Linken-Streit um Lucy Redler eskaliert", Berliner Morgenpost (30 October 2008)
  15. "DIE LINKE. Berlin: Schiedskommission gibt Einsprüchen statt". Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  16. Hengst, Björn (September 2010). "Trotzkistin in der Linken: Die Rückkehr der roten Lucy". Der Spiegel.
  17. "DIE LINKE: Für Solidarität und soziale Gerechtigkeit!".
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