Where did the political engagement go?
Where did the political engagement go?
Journalist: Marie Tjelta
Illustrator: Anna Bjørke
Translator: Ingrid Bjørnevik Nygaard
Are you a passionate person that wishes to get involved politically as a student at Ås? Then you sadly don’t have as many choices as before. Lately, the political diversity has drowned with party-political associations such as “Liberale Studenter” and “Rødt Ås studentlag”, as well as associations that front a single matter such as “Gay på landet”. Right now, the possibilities for those who are engaged in feminism are also hanging on by a hair. Are Ås students no longer interested in politics, and in that case, what is the reason?
Historically engaged students
The political landscape at NMBU in the 70s and 80s looked completely different than now. Politics was self-evident in the everyday lives of students. That is evident in the old editions of Tuntréet, as well as in Studentsamfunnets jubilee book. To be engaged was almost a duty. It was so vital that candidates were elected in Studentsamfunnets General Assembly based on their political party. Nevertheless, it changed after the 90s. Studentsamfunnet declared itself politically independent, and since then the political engagement has slowly declined at Ås.
The pandemic’s chokehold
Tuntréet has contacted both current and previous leaders of political associations at Ås who have experienced the decline in engagement from the student body. Emily Raw Kverndal, head of “Ås Feministiske Studenter”, Thomas Reime Berthelsen, former head of “Gay på landet”, and Sunniva Daae Steiro, former head of “Rødt Ås Studentlag”. What initially set the spotlight on this case came from Emily’s cry for help at Ås fem’s Instagram account right after new year’s. Emily was going on exchange and didn’t have the possibility to keep the association alive anymore. They needed new engagement to survive. Despite a successful Woman’s Day last year, with show and appeals at Samfunnet, there is still not enough engagement at Ås. At the same time, “Gay på landet” is an unknown association for some students, as they haven’t been active since 2021.
Generally, life has been tough for associations in the aftermath of the corona pandemic. Emily threw herself in the leadership role in 2022, when no one else volunteered. Since then, she has tried to keep feminism activism alive at Ås. Thomas got active in “Gay på landet” before the pandemic and has been a witness as to how the pandemic wrapped the association community in a chokehold. «The volunteer structure in Ås changed so incredibly much throughout the pandemic, as there were so many veterans who disappeared, it was difficult to continue the engagement and technique. Suddenly, some associations became much larger than others, and it was difficult to find someone with the capacity and desire to take it further.”. There is no doubt that the pandemic has had a major impact on the political associations, students may have prioritized social associations rather than the political ones after a period of lockdown and quarantine. Nevertheless, Emily tells us that “Ås fem” experienced a decline in activity both before and after corona.
Are the Ås students not political?
There are lots of factors that play a part in whether the association will survive or not, but when we see that there are so many political associations that are affected, we cannot help but ask the question: Do Ås students not care about politics? Volunteering is well liked at Ås, however it seems like there is a bigger engagement around Samfunnet, then the actual socety.
Sunniva, former head for “Rødt Ås Studentlag” which was shut down before the summer of 2023, talks about how political diversity has disappeared among the political parties at Ås. “It is definitely a shame that there is not enough political engagement to sustain local teams. It feels like “everyone” at NMBU votes for MDG when it is the only visible party, and that’s not good for bringing out different political perspectives among students”. The Green Party’s student association “Grønne Studenter Ås” is now one of the largest associations at Ås, which shows us that we definitely have engaged students on campus, just not a broad diversity. Sunniva adds that the number of positions per student at Ås is high and understands that one must prioritize what you have the capacity for, but she would still like to see more diverse political voices in Ås.
Another important point is the political development in society in recent years. Equality battles have been fought and to some extent, won. When it is almost a given that everyone is a feminist, there may not be as much pressure to get involved. There are not as clear threats to equality as there have been earlier in history, and that might lead to change in priorities. It is also worth mentioning that in recent years we have seen less rightwing political views in academia, as well as at NMBU. Without a clearer counterpart, it becomes less motivating to engage itself when it feels like everyone probably agrees. Do we have nothing to fight about anymore? We need political diversity to have a political engagement.
Hope for more passionate souls
Luckily, it looks like there will be a Woman’s Day at Ås this year as well. Birte Una Songedal Liset and Åse Vigdisdatter Nytrø have taken matters into their own hands to organise an event on 8th of March. They are both in the association “Hunkatten” and Åse is head of the event committee at Samfunnet. It is worth mentioning that the association “Hunkatten” has also established itself as a strong feminist association throughout history in Ås.
In addition, Emily reveals that she has received multiple messages from people wanting to engage themselves after her Instagram post. She explains that to get it started they need passionate souls. Thomas adds that the same applies to them. “Formerly enthusiasts in GPL would like to pass the baton on to new potential enthusiasts.” If you want to bring any of these associations back to life, feel free to get in touch, the former leaders say.
Students’ opinions matter
It is important to remember that students’ opinions matter. Students have always been political pioneers throughout history. We have often been the group that has been on the frontline of societal debates and challenged the rest of the larger society, something we see examples of in Ås student’s history as well. Even if it can be comfortable to sit back, it is worth remembering that our opinions and engagement carries a lot of weight. After all, we are the ones who will take over this society in the future. For the political engagement to flourish once more at Ås, it requires that students feel their opinion is important. Who knows, maybe it is you that are reading this that can bring the political debate back to Ås?
