The Party Youth and Its Recurring Clashes with the SPÖ

Austria’s Socialist Youth is planning a “school strike” against the ban on headscarves for children under 14, even though the SPÖ helped approve the ban in coalition with the government. The party is trying to calm the situation and avoid a major confrontation with its own youth organization. But once again, the relationship is strained.

The tension is particularly pronounced within the Social Democrats. The Socialist Youth, the student group VSSTÖ and the school organization AKS represent the party’s left wing and often clash with a leadership that takes a more pragmatic approach. The headscarf dispute shows that this dynamic persists even with Andreas Babler, a declared representative of the party’s left, at the top.

Most internal disputes can be smoothed over, but some have escalated dramatically. During Bruno Kreisky’s period of power, his son Peter led opposition within the party. While the chancellor welcomed U.S. President Gerald Ford at Salzburg airport, Kreisky’s son demonstrated against the visit and the Vietnam War. He also became prominent in the campaign against the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant. His expulsion from the party was considered for a time, but never took place.

Josef Cap, then head of the youth organization, cultivated an even more open rebel image. At the 1982 party congress, he challenged Burgenland Governor Theodor Kery with questions about his salary, discounted electricity and whether he shot machine guns as a hobby. The party establishment punished Cap by removing him from the executive board. His political career nevertheless accelerated. He entered parliament through a preference-vote campaign, later abandoned the rebel role and eventually became parliamentary group leader.

The youth wing again confronted the party leadership when Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer introduced university tuition fees in 2007, breaking an election promise in the interests of coalition politics. Student leader Barbara Blaha left the party in protest. Yet youth activism can also lead directly to power. Cap, Gusenbauer, Werner Faymann and Peter Kaiser all began in party youth organizations.