Chairperson Elin Ylvasdotter Ideology Social democracy | Headquarters Stockholm, Sweden | |
International affiliation International Union of Socialist Youth European affiliation Young European Socialists | ||
The Social Democratic Students of Sweden (Swedish: Socialdemokratiska studentförbundet, or S-Studenter) is the student organization of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. The organisations acronym is SSF, this acronym is most commonly used in international organisations such as IUSY or YES.
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Created again in 1990, the organisation today has about 1200 members spread out over the country, most of them students at either universities or poly-technics. The organisation is today run by Talla Alkurdi, previously a student at Göteborg University, and Sverker Falk-Lissel, a student at Stockholm university.
The Social Democratic Students of Sweden focuses on questions connected to higher education but also organises seminars and debates on various topics such as: international affairs, gender equality, discrimination and equality at the labour market. In recent years the organization has become a strong voice in the ideological debate within the Swedish Labour Movement. The Social Democratic Students of Sweden was the first social democratic organization to argue for a Swedish EU (EC) membership and also the first to call for a common European currency. The organization has also a strong engagement in the movement for democracy in Burma, with which it has worked in partnership since 1996.
Controversy
In November 2005 the Social Democratic Students of Sweden together with the Swedish Association of Christian Social Democrats and the Muslim Council of Sweden invited the Palestinian-British academic Azzam Tamimi to hold a speech at a seminar at the Stockholm Mosque on the topic "Islam and Democratic Development". This led to strong criticism. Tamimi has referred to Israel as a "cancer" and is especially known for his support for suicide bombings against Israeli civilians.