Klassekampen

From RationalWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Cover of the first issue
Pål Steigan founded Klassekampen and later Steigan.no
You gotta spin it to win it
Media
Icon media.svg
Stop the presses!
We want pictures
of Spider-Man!
Extra! Extra!
The left must not be woke
—A headline in Klassekampen

Klassekampen ("The Class Struggle") is a Norwegian traditionally far-left newspaper that is generally aligned with the Red Party (Norway) and its predecessors. It was historically a Maoist periodical and later a newspaper owned by the Workers' Communist Party (Norway) (AKP). The newspaper was founded by Pål Steigan, who later also founded Steigan.no, a "red-brown" conspiracy theorist website.

In recent years, Klassekampen has undergone what observers describe as a reactionary shift, embracing culture war narratives in ways that reflect a wider trend on parts of the radical left, where opposition to liberalism gives rise to rhetoric and positions that increasingly echo those of the far right, particularly on issues like nationalism, "anti-globalism," and anti-gender ideology. The newspaper has been criticized by scholars, mainstream outlets, and left-wing activists for promoting "anti-globalist" conspiracy theories, amplifying pro-Kremlin talking points—earning the label "Putin's Norwegian parrots"[1]—and for disseminating transphobic and TERF-aligned content.[2] LGBTQ+ advocates argue that the paper has actively sought to harm a vulnerable minority. The paper's two most recent editors have embraced an "anti-woke" stance and the paper has gained a reputation as "a reactionary culture war rag" among progressives.[3] It also tends to promote a rather isolationist view of Norway's role in the world. Klassekampen also has a decades-long history of platforming antisemitic voices, and once promoted Holocaust revisionism.[4][5][6][7] In 2025 the paper has ridiculed concerns about the global rise of fascism voiced by the left, arguing that it isn't relevant to Norway. Its promotion of reactionary, culture war, and transphobic narratives has made it an increasingly polarizing force on the Norwegian left, including among members of the Red Party.

Despite its willingness to platform what major newspapers have dubbed the "crackpot left,"[8] what distinguishes Klassekampen from Steigan.no is its persistent ambition to retain an air of respectability, adopting what could be termed a "soft" reactionary posture, more insidious precisely because of its role in mainstreaming such discourse. This effort to remain respectable has also drawn accusations of opportunism, notably from its founder, Pål Steigan, who claims that "Klassekampen plays a more important role in stifling opposition" than major mainstream newspapers due to what he claims is its role in gatekeeping which opposition voices are allowed to exist.[9]

History[edit]

It was founded as a monthly Maoist periodical by a self-described "group of marxist-leninists" with Pål Steigan and Tron Øgrim as key figures in 1969.[note 1] It eventually became the newspaper of the Maoist Workers' Communist Party (Norway) (AKP), and during Pål Steigan's tenure as leader of AKP it was developed into a daily newspaper in 1977. As the newspaper of AKP Klassekampen toed the Maoist party line. It was under the control of AKP's central committee which directly edited certain sections of the paper to promote the party's positions. It was the party's official newspaper until 1991 when it was rebranded as an independent left-wing newspaper, albeit owned by AKP. AKP eventually merged with the Red Electoral Alliance, itself an AKP offshoot, to form the Red Party, which remains a shareholder.[11]

Russia[edit]

It has often maintained an anti-Western stance, often engaging in the practice of whataboutism, particularly in response to criticism of countries like Russia, Venezuela or Cuba. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the political editor of Dagbladet Geir Ramnefjell wrote that Klassekampen got its coverage of the events of the Russo-Ukrainian War that led to the invasion "most consistently wrong" and asserted that the paper continued to publish "third rate conspiracy theories" of the "crackpot left" even after the invasion.[8] The paper was described as "Putin's Norwegian parrots" by Norway's largest newspaper Aftenposten.[1] An editorial from the same newspaper from November 2022 stated that "before the invasion, Klassekampen went to great lengths to dismiss concerns that there was any threat from Russia against Ukraine. Now the newspaper chooses to downplay the danger that Russian manipulation of Western democracies poses."[12] The political editor of Dagens Næringsliv Frithjof Jacobsen wrote that Klassekampen's former editor Bjørgulv Braanen was among those who had espoused "rigid anti-Americanism" and "whose voices we do not need to listen to any more."[13] However, the paper does not support the Russian invasion, and has also expressed solidarity with Ukraine.

Transphobia[edit]

The paper has been criticized for several years by representatives of the LGBTQ+ community for its hostile coverage of transgender people and its promotion of TERF ideology. Gender studies scholar Janne Bromseth noted that "the radical left-wing newspaper Klassekampen has published regular columnists who have voiced transphobic views for a long time."[2] It has published several leading TERF writers including Kajsa Ekis Ekman – who is also published by the "red-brown" conspiracy theorist website Steigan.no – and several representatives of the SPLC-designated hate group Women's Declaration International (WDI). Writer Mohamed Abdi said that Klassekampen has knowingly promoted and normalized hate against a small and vulnerable group.[14] In 2020 and 2021 many in the LGBTQ+ community in Norway cancelled their subscriptions due to the paper's anti-trans articles.[15][14] Janne Bromseth wrote:

This marks the end of my subscription, as Anne Kalvig's latest column in the 'religion section' today once again uses the space to talk about 'gender identity ideology.' For a long time now, several regular guest writers have consistently used their column space to promote their own anti-trans views under the guise of advocating for feminism; Ekis Ekman, Linderborg, Kalvig — and not least how these are presented as representative feminist voices in articles about the third legal gender, etc. I am deeply attached to Klassekampen, but it is too upsetting that KK legitimizes this hateful rhetoric, which harms rather than supports human rights principles.[15]

Bromseth's comment received strong support from dozens of gender studies scholars and LGBTQ+ advocates.

Johannes Jacobsen of the Norwegian Patient Organization for Gender Incongruence wrote in 2021:

In Klassekampen's August 13th edition, psychologist Kristine Tofte writes that she asked for suggestions for her next topic for her Klassekampen article on Twitter. One reply she received was that "it would be kind of nice if Klassekampen wrote about trans issues without explicitly transphobic commentary." This message says a lot about Klassekampen's problematic relationship with the trans debate. The newspaper has for a long time published highly speculative and inaccurate pieces from various writers. It seems the newspaper has little issue contributing to very malicious portrayals of people who are already suffering from intense minority stress, all under a misguided notion that any debate is acceptable.[16]

Journalism researcher Jon Martin Larsen argued that the paper is trampling on transgender people and inciting hatred against them, and said that he as a journalism lecturer has found it necessary to caution his students against the paper.[17][18] The newspaper's editor Mari Skurdal, who has previously defended J.K. Rowling's views on trans people and referred to WDI as "women's rights advocates," has denied that the paper is transphobic[19] and complained about "cancel culture" due to the criticism of the paper's anti-trans articles.[20]

A Klassekampen article from 2025, by a long-time regular Klassekampen columnist (and vice chair of WDI), was titled "Trump for reality" and strongly defended Donald Trump's anti-trans policies.[21] The author of the text has long enjoyed the personal support of Klassekampen's editor-in-chief and used her "religion column" in the paper to promote transphobia."[2]

In March 2025, Klassekampen chose to publish a piece by Kajsa Ekis Ekman, who is known for her anti-trans views, support for Putin, and contributions to conspiracy website Steigan.no. The article was a sweeping attack on so-called "woke liberals," filled with conspiracy thinking, alt-right talking points, and broad denunciations of the left. Associate professor Are Bøe Pedersen explained that "Ekman is a well-known transphobe with ties to hate organizations. You don't ask her to write in the newspaper if you want anything other than this. Klassekampen is a reactionary culture war rag".[3] On social media, former Klassekampen journalist Carline Tromp called the text "insane".[22]

After journalism researcher Jon Martin Larsen published two articles in the journalism trade journal M24 offering critical analysis of Klassekampen's promotion of transphobic views,[17][18] Klassekampen employee and Internet troll Jo Røed Skårderud—an occasional collaborator of his father Finn Skårderud—edited Larsen's Wikipedia article in apparent retaliation to mock him over a past political defeat, gleefully pointing out that "he lost" when he was a candidate for the leadership of Norway's LGBT+ rights organization nine years earlier.[23] The incident is particularly telling from a press ethics perspective. The retaliation was personal, petty, and unrelated to the substance of the criticism. It paints a picture of unprofessionalism and bullying within Klassekampen's environment. For a newspaper that already faces sustained criticism for publishing content hostile to minorities, incidents like this amplify concerns about whether it upholds basic journalistic values of fairness, accountability, and integrity.

In August 2025, Klassekampen journalist Sandra Lillebø published yet another column[24] framed as "just asking questions" about trans people and their access to healthcare, warning that "the left" is doomed to fail if it refuses to agree with the political right on certain issues. While positioning herself as opposed to Donald Trump's overt persecution of trans people — in contrast to another Klassekampen columnist earlier that year who strongly praised Trump for defending so-called "reality"[21] — Lillebø nonetheless casts doubt on whether trans people should have the right to access gender-affirming care. Her article recycles long-standing transphobic tropes: framing trans existence and rights as a subject for debate, treating trans healthcare as a controversial privilege rather than a recognized medical necessity, and leaning on sensationalized anecdotes and anti-trans talking points that have been repeatedly debunked. In doing so, she reinforces a climate in which the rights and dignity of trans people are contingent on the majority's comfort, rather than affirmed as matters of equality and bodily autonomy. The column exemplifies Klassekampen's longstanding and troubled fixation on trans people, revealing how several of its writers have internalized and reproduced a transphobic worldview. Lillebø's "just asking questions" posture functions as a form of discursive violence by presenting trans existence as open to debate, enacting denial under the guise of inquiry, and helping to reproduce the structural stigma that already undermines trans people's access to recognition, safety, and care.

Political scientist Craig McLean, in his study of the UK's anti-transgender movement, identifies "just asking questions" as a calculated rhetorical strategy, one that frames hostility to trans rights as the raising of "reasonable concerns" while masking its role in fueling prejudice. As McLean notes, anti-trans actors have "pushed a narrative of 'raising reasonable concerns' and just 'asking questions', but the reality is that they have helped to demonize an already vulnerable minority." Drawing on radicalization scholarship, he warns that such discourse constitutes a form of cognitive radicalization, in which persistent exposure to conspiracies and dehumanizing frames can shift public attitudes in increasingly extreme directions. While often defended as "debate," this steady drip of hostile framing primes audiences to view trans existence as inherently suspect and trans rights as a threat, thereby normalizing discriminatory policies. McLean cautions that this process can have dangerous downstream effects: "events in the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 should serve as a warning. The demonization of a group may not always remain a nonviolent pastime. A group of people infused by conspiracies disseminated in the media over a period of time need not stay cognitively radicalized. Sometimes they become behaviorally radicalized and turn violent." In this light, Klassekampen's repeated use of the "just asking questions" frame around trans issues mirrors patterns that radicalization researchers identify as potential precursors to more overt forms of targeted harm.[25]

Antisemitism[edit]

Prominent anti-semite Trond Andresen was a Klassekampen columnist for 16 years and editor of its debate forum

Klassekampen has a decades-long history of platforming antisemitic voices.[5][4] In 2008, prominent anti-semite Trond Andresen – who announced his support for Marine Le Pen in 2016 and now often shares platforms with Neo-Nazis – was appointed by Klassekampen's editor-in-chief as the sole editor (or "moderator") of its Internet debate forum.[26] As a regular columnist over 16 years, Andresen wrote countless articles promoting anti-Semitic narratives in the paper, also prior to 2008.[5][4]

Historian Torkel Brekke argues that Klassekampen in the 1970s promoted a form of Holocaust revisionism that constituted "trivialization and relativization of the Holocaust which is close to what we find on the extreme right," including a series of articles in which the newspaper claimed that the Zionists were complicit in the genocide against the Jews in Europe.[5][6][7]

Broader reactionary turn[edit]

Consistent with its broader reactionary "anti-woke" stance, Klassekampen has repeatedly and prominently promoted Susan Neiman's book Left Is Not Woke, both in 2023 and again in 2025. Headlines in the paper include "The left must not be woke" and "The left is not woke." In doing so, the paper has endorsed claims that "the left has nothing in common with woke" and that "something went wrong when 'the victim' was placed at the center of historical analysis".[27][28] By amplifying these messages over several years, Klassekampen aligns itself with a reactionary narrative that pathologizes solidarity politics and dismisses structural critique as identity-based irrationalism. Neiman appears to be a favorite thinker of Klassekampen's current and former editors Bjørgulv Braanen and Mari Skurdal. On the left, Neiman is considered a reactionary voice. In a review for the Los Angeles Review of Books, historian Samuel Clowes Huneke characterized Left Is Not Woke as a "cringe-inducing screed against a group she terms 'the woke'—without ever telling us whom, exactly, she is talking about" and that is "chock full of ad hominem attacks and ungenerous readings."[29]

In 2025, Klassekampen has increasingly dismissed or downplayed concerns about the global rise of fascism voiced by the left. Rather than taking these warnings seriously, the paper has mocked anti-fascist mobilization efforts as alarmist or misguided. A prime example is found in a piece by editor Mari Skurdal, which questions the relevance of anti-fascist organizing in Norway today:

There is mobilization for an anti-fascist struggle. But is that where the real struggle lies in Norway?
—Klassekampen's editor[30]

It not only ridicules grassroots organizing efforts, such as podcasts, festivals, and educational initiatives, but also suggests that fears about fascism are overblown or misplaced. By focusing narrowly on the domestic situation in Norway and overlooking international developments, Klassekampen ignores the transnational dynamics of authoritarianism and far-right organizing. This approach stands in sharp contrast to much of the global left, which rightly treats anti-fascist resistance as urgent and necessary in the face of rising illiberalism, state repression, and far-right movements worldwide. Klassekampen was criticized for its stance by Ronny Kjelsberg, Audun Lysbakken, and others.[31][32]

Klassekampen has also dismissed concerns about the rightward shift of Norway's Christian party KrF, which has increasingly adopted rhetoric borrowed from the culture war of the American right – rhetoric that in many way overlaps with the kind of anti-gender and "anti-woke" rhetoric often promoted by Klassekampen. Lars West Johnsen, the editor-in-chief of Dagsavisen, wrote that:

Its political editor Bjørgulv Braanen, just a few days earlier, had in an euphoric May 17th commentary warned against the import of American culture wars and, surprisingly enough, advised against criticizing the Christian Democratic Party’s (KrF) shift to the right — for strategic reasons:

'When someone, in desperation, jumps on KrF as a domestic Trumpist threat... Maybe we should instead count ourselves lucky to have centrist parties like KrF and the Centre Party (Sp)?'

Does Braanen really believe that KrF's new shift to the right — which, after all, is not happening in a political vacuum — should not be critically examined? KrF can hardly be called a centrist party anymore if its policies align with the right and its future lies with the Progress Party (Frp).

But Braanen is also the same man who, just days before Russia’s brutal invasion, dismissed it as American propaganda. That too was alarmism.[33]

Steigan's criticism[edit]

Despite its reputation for giving a platform to what major newspapers have dubbed the "crackpot left," Klassekampen isn't always popular with the red-brown crowd or old fellow travelers, who often accuse the paper of opportunism. After founding his own blog, Steigan.no, Klassekampen's founder Pål Steigan (who was a board member of the paper well into the 2000s) has become a harsh critic of the paper. He has criticized Klassekampen for being "worse" than other outlets, due to what he claims is its role in gatekeeping which opposition voices are allowed to exist, stating that "if you're to the left of Klassekampen, or more critical than Klassekampen, then you're not welcome in polite society." He argues that "in that sense, Klassekampen plays a more important role in stifling opposition" than major mainstream newspapers like Aftenposten or VG. He attributes this to Klassekampen receiving press subsidies and the opportunities that come with them.[9]

See also[edit]

  • Steigan.no, a separate project also founded by Pål Steigan

Notes[edit]

  1. A different Norwegian communist newspaper of the same name existed from 1909 until 1940, when Nazi Germany occupied Norway.[10]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Slettholm, Andreas (25 February 2022). "Putins norske etterplaprere må gå i seg selv" [Putin's Norwegian parrots must realize that they were wrong]. Aftenposten.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Janne Bromseth (7 July 2022): Nu följer ilskan mot medias ansvarslöshet, Ottar ("Även den vänstreradikala tidningen Klassekampen har haft fasta spaltister som yttrat sig transfobiskt en längre tid" ["Even the radical left-wing newspaper Klassekampen has published regular columnists who have voiced transphobic views for a long time"])
  3. 3.0 3.1 Are Bøe Pedersen: Ekman er en velkjent transfob med bindinger til hat-organisasjoner
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 , Kjetil B. (2011-09-30). "Klassekampen og den jødiske fare" [Klassekampen and the Jewish danger]. Minerva.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Brekke, Torkel (2023). Ingen er uskyldig: Antisemittisme på venstresiden. Cappelen Damm. pp. 144–168. ISBN 9788202757212.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Torkel Brekke: Da sionisme ble nazisme
  7. 7.0 7.1 Torkel Brekke: Venstresiden må ta på alvor at antisemittisme også finnes i deres leir
  8. 8.0 8.1 Ramnefjell, Geir (16 March 2022). "Krigen sett fra koko-venstre" [The war seen from the crackpot left]. Dagbladet.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Samtale med Pål Steigan
  10. See the Wikipedia article on Klassekampen (1909–1940).
  11. Alf Skjeseth: Sykle på vatnet: Historia om Klassekampen by Martin Eide (2011)norsk medietidsskrif 18(3):294-296. ("Biking on water – the history of Klassekampen")
  12. "Aftenposten mener: Klassekampen er stadig på ville veier". Aftenposten. 2 November 2022.
  13. Jacobsen, Frithjof (25 March 2022). "De som hatet Amerika". Dagens Næringsliv.
  14. 14.0 14.1 Mohamed Abdi (2020). Klassekampen er delaktig i normaliseringen av hatprat i vårt samfunn [Klassekampen is involved in promoting hate]
  15. 15.0 15.1 See e.g. this discussion
  16. Johannes Jacobsen (14 August 2021). Klassekampens ansvar. Klassekampen.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Larsen, Jon Martin. "Jeg håper du vet hva du gjør, Mari Skurdal" [I hope you know what you do, Mari Skurdal]. M24.
  18. 18.0 18.1 Larsen, Jon Martin. "Hvorfor fortsetter Klassekampen å tråkke på mennesker?" [Why does Klassekampen continue to trample on people?]. M24.
  19. Skurdal, Mari. "Er Klassekampen en transfobisk avis? På ingen måte" [Is Klassekampen a transphobic newspaper? Absolutely not]. Klassekampen. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  20. Skyt budbringen
  21. 21.0 21.1 Trump for virkeligheten
  22. En ganske vanvittig tekst
  23. Jo Røed Skårderud (2025): On Jon Martin Larsen: "he lost"
  24. Sandra Lillebø (15 August 2025): "Angrep fra alle kanter: Å la være å stille spørsmål er aldri en god strategi." Klassekampen
  25. McLean, Craig (2021). "The Growth of the Anti-Transgender Movement in the United Kingdom: The Silent Radicalization of the British Electorate" (PDF). International Journal of Sociology. 51 (6): 473–482. doi:10.1080/00207659.2021.1939946. S2CID 237874806.
  26. Braanen, Bjørgulv (19 April 2008). "Klassekampen med nytt debattforum på nett". Klassekampen. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Trond Andresen, som tidligere har drevet debattlista KK-forum, blir moderator for et nytt debattforum på nettet som Klassekampen lanserer i dag
  27. Venstresida må ikke være woke [The left must not be woke]. Klassekampen, 2023.
  28. Venstresida er ikke woke [The left is not woke]. Klassekampen, 2023.
  29. Huneke, Samuel Clowes (September 17, 2023). "Critically Cringe: On Susan Neiman's "Left Is Not Woke"". Los Angeles Review of Books.
  30. Lite lur alarmisme. Klassekampen, 2025
  31. Ronny Kjelsberg: Om (over)troen på offentlig debatt
  32. Audun Lysbakken: Lite lure lettvintheter
  33. Lars West Johnsen (2025): Alarmen går. Vær en Gary. Vær en Audun. Fri Fagbevegelse.