Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.06.2018, Side 12

Sanna Magdalena Mörtudóttir did
not envision herself as a politician.
In many ways she still doesn’t; not
an establishment politician, anyway.
However, through growing up in
poverty, and being raised as a woman
of colour by a single mother, she was
always keenly aware of the problems
of inequality in Icelandic society. So
she spoke from her experience, in the
form of a lengthy Facebook status a
year and a half ago, which caught on
like wildfire. Shortly thereafter, she
helped found the Socialist Party.
Sanna doesn’t dwell much on theory.
Her party hasn’t even yet defined itself
as Marxist-Leninist, Maoist, or any
other established form of socialism.
Instead, she sees her mission as a
fairly simple one: “We're about power
to the people. Giving them a seat at
the table where the power decisions
are made. The people that experience
being powerless in this society should
have more say in the factors that affect
their lives."
But isn’t Iceland already
socialist?
One of the more prevailing myths
about Icelandic society is that full
equality has been achieved here; that
we jailed all the bankers, poverty
doesn’t exist, and the feminists have
won. The reality, of course, is very
different from this.
"I think there's this huge myth that
in Iceland we don't have any classes,”
Sanna explains. “This isn't true, but
everyone just wants to keep things
hush-hush and doesn't want to talk
about it. They say everyone is equal
here in Iceland and everyone has equal
rights. I think the main reason why the
Socialist Party came about is because
we feel the parties on the left wing
abandoned their socialist background,
their roots. They're more of a move-
ment catering to the middle class, and
forgot about the grassroots; the people
they're supposed to be fighting for. So
we feel the so-called left haven't been
doing their job. The working poor,
pensioners, the disabled, immigrants
— we in the Socialist Party built our
base on the experience of these people.
That's the difference. We are the
people."
While there are leftist parties in
Iceland, their approach to inclusivity
can leave a lot to be desired.
"People will say 'hey let's have a
board meeting about people with disa-
bilities' and think to ask maybe one
person with a disability to come and
sit at this meeting,” Sanna says. “They
think they're including all voices,
when they should be actively talking
to lots of people who have this experi-
ence."
To counter this, Sanna intends to
make it her mission to make the voices
12 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2018
Words:
Paul Fontaine
Photo:
Timothée
Lambrecq The revolution begins here
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At The Edge Of The
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Sanna Magdalena Mörtudóttir of the
Socialist Party speaks up