Every year the students of Marburg university are allowed to elect the student's parliament. We are a eligible group that associates with ideas of feminism, marxism and antifascism. For more about us, click here.

The General Students' Committee or Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss (AStA) has gathered reason as to why it is important to take part in university elections. Sadly, they are only available in german. Therefore, we want to sum them up shortly. The students ticket, the free of charge legal advice or the introductory week in the beginning of the semester are some of the benefits made possible by the students parliament. We think these benefits are great but could even be greater.

If you have any feedback visit us on our weekly meetings or contact us via mail.

A broad offer at the canteen: vegetarian, vegan, halal, local, seasonal

For the last few months prices for meals in the canteen have been increasing tremendously. These developments object the task of the StudWerk to provide students with affordable meals. Eating warm meals regularly is very important for students to master their studies appropriately. Thus, it is not acceptable for financially troubled students, who have to pay for the StudWerk anyways, to fall back to cheap canned foods or otherwise comparable food.
Furthermore, it is necessary for a ecological and sustainable offer to decrease the use of animal products as well as increase the use of regional and seasonal products. The production of animal products and importing produce play a part in wasting scarce resources such as water and land. In addition to that vegetarian or vegan students are excluded from having meals in the canteen because of the lack of oprions for them. We also criticize the use of single-use products. It is no secret that these leave behind a huge amount of rubbish which we have to reduce. An inclusive StudWerk has to be aware of its responsibility towards students, the environment and nature and has to act in an ecological and sustainable direction.

Better connections to Lahnberge, Cappel, Wehrda and the periphery

It is not a secret that housing in Marburg is scarce. Therefore, many students and other underpriviliged groups have to live in areas or villages far away from the city center. The access to public transport in the suburbs is bad. On the one hand buses only come once per hour and on the other hand people face half an hour drives to the inner city. Also, there are no connections scheduled after midnight. That is why, students rely on taxis, their own cars or lifts.  Last year the general students' comittee or AStA supported a better post-midnight schedule to the students dorms at Richtsberg. This has to be implemented for the other districts as well. Everyone has the right to study in the library and enjoy the cultural life of Marburg. For more and better connections to the outer suburbs!

Sustainable mobility through support of public transport, bike and pedestrians

 
Traffic jams in the cities and the recent emission scandals coupled with the intensifying climate change are just a couple of reasons to think of new forms of transportation. For decades it has been proven that humans, society and the whole planet suffers from these developements. Sustainable mobility is therefore the attempt to improve living conditions while simultaneously reducing pollution. At the heart of the problem hereby are cars that most call their own. Municipalities have many options to support the trend of sustainable mobility. The facilitation of infrastructure for bicycles, carsharing, free public transport for all and many other ideas aren't utopias anymore but possible measures to build a social and ecofriendly city. Marburg is also among those cities that could further exhaust its possibilities. After getting elected we want to urge the university of Marburg to use its weight in local politics to enforce the implementation of a sustainable mobility. At the moment, Marburg has one of the most jammed public transports in Hessia. It is unacceptable that local politicians don't want to tackle this problem but rather argue that this situation is very cost efficient and therefore good for the city. Meanwhile, we are witnessing traffic jams all over the city every day and especially in the northern part of Marburg. For this reason, it is crucial to extend public transport and convince people to change the way they use their cars. This way we are also able to protect the health of everyone.

More women* among lectures

 
Within society as well as our university women* face sometimes visible, sometimes invisible repressions: these include economic discrimination like lower wages for equal work or the so called "glass ceiling". In our everyday life women* face (hetero-)sexism, physical and also psychological violence. Women* are subjected to standardization of not only the body but also the mind. At our university this manifests itself in patriarchal hierarchies which are male dominated. The amount of women* decreases with the distribution of power within the assignment. For us feminism means more than a quota, it means the removal of hierarchies which oppress men and women* alike! A university as well as a society in which violence and masculine hierarchies live on can only be wrong!

The SDS as a left-wing university politics active group

The SDS of Marburg is a socialist and plural student association, which is independent and democratically based. We campaign especially within collaborations of interested people and other democratic groups as well as in a solidary and critical relation to the party DIE LINKE for the concerns and interests of the students, like social justice and a better educational system.

In doing so we attempt to develop an emancipatory policy founded on feminist, Marxist, anti-capitalist and anti-oppression positions. The commitment for a stronger emancipation of minorities and disadvantaged groups of persons as well as the fight against fascism is thereby especially important to us.

The perception of collegiate interests on so many different levels, for example the Student Parliament (Stupa), different departments of the General Student Committee (AstA), the Council of Elders or on urban policy level, as well as their sustainable and public-oriented articulation and enforcement form the core component of our work.

Sciences that reflects upon hegemonic conditions

There have been many debates on what science is and what science can do. We advocate for independent science that does not align to economic trade-offs. The task of science should lie within its value for society as a whole. That is why it is essential for science to question and deconstruct hierarchies and show us different paths to dispose ourselves from relations of power and subordination which there are many of. The different varieties of capitalism, the patriarchy, racism and other forms of discrimination or neo-colonial aspirations are phenomena not only of our past but also of our present time. Let's not make these part of our future. These kind of utopias can only be thought out if science can be independent from private money. That is why we stand for open and public science, which posits itself in free access to knowledge and participation for everyone.

Affordable and decent housing

The city of Marburg as well as the University are proud to see the number of students growing constantly. We are also happy to see these developments because every person has the right to education. Problems occur if the city, the federal state of Hessia and the StudWerk fail to address the changing realities of unaffordable living for all students. If you have been living in an emergency accomodation at the beginning of the semester you will likely end up in the suburbs or in an overpriced room. 
Local politics does not account for the living and social conditions of students who want to study or are already studying in Marburg. Nonexisting housing, the rise in utility expenses as well as graduated rent cause the prices of living to rise immensly. This leads to further push students to the suburbs of Marburg (gentrification).
To support students it is necessary for politics to provide everyone with valuable and affordable housing within the inner city and close to university. Besides that projects like the "Bettenhaus" have to be encouraged and enhanced.
Due to the establishment of the SDS within the student body and the city council we can use synergy effects to illustrate the students interest in good and affordable housing publicly. Using this we can pressure people in power to invest into public housing and against processes of gentrification.

Continued solidary financing of the students ticket

We think that the students ticket is a remarkable achievement, which enables every student to move within Hessia and beyond. In addition to this the students ticket gives the option to switch to ecofriendly means of transport. The goal for the future should be a shift away from car traffic towards public transportation. Sustainability and the mobility of lower-income classes are two reasons to support the continuation of the students ticket. Furthermore, the students ticket is one of the most efficient ways to tackle climate change in Hessia. On the one hand less students use their own car (around 50% less since 2000) and on the other hand we witness the expansion of the public transportation sector. This developement needs to be assisted even more. That is why we support the construction of a tram between city center and Lahnberge to accomodate around 20.000 commuters every day.
The students ticket is financed by every student which allows for a lower price for all. We know about those that struggle to even pay for this ticket. For this reason we fought for the implementation of a payback possibility for those who cannot afford the ticket. These people are able to enjoy the benefits of the ticket thanks to the funding of the rest. All in all this allows for a redistribution of ressources towards students within precarious situations. The growing demand for refunding confirms the necessity of such an instrument.
The realization of free transportation for all which is coupled with public welfare remains our overarching goal. Therefore, the slogan for our commitment is "Mobility needs solidarity".