Klassekampen

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[[File:Klassekampen no 1 1969.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Cover of the first issue]]
[[File:Pål Steigan at Parkteateret.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Pål Steigan founded Klassekampen and later [[Steigan.no]]]]
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{{cquote|The left must not be [[Alt-right glossary#Woke|woke]]|||A headline in ''Klassekampen''}}
'''''Klassekampen''''' ("The Class Struggle") is a [[Norwegian]] traditionally [[far-left]] newspaper that is generally aligned with the {{wpl|Red Party (Norway)}} and its predecessors. It was historically a [[Maoism|Maoist]] periodical and later a newspaper owned by the {{wpl|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]], "[[Globalism|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"<ref name="slettholm"/>—and for disseminating [[Transphobia|transphobic]] and [[TERF]]-aligned content.<ref name=Bromseth/> Klassekampen has for years promoted disinformation narratives about transgender people, and [[LGBTQ|LGBTQ+]] advocates argue that the paper has actively and deliberately sought to harm a vulnerable minority. The paper's two most recent editors have embraced an "[[Alt-right glossary#Woke|anti-woke]]" stance and the paper has gained a reputation as "a reactionary [[culture war]] rag" among progressives.<ref name=abp/> 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 [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] voices, and once promoted [[Holocaust revisionism]].<ref name=Simonsen>, Kjetil B. (2011-09-30). "[https://www.minerva.no/klassekampen-og-den-jodiske-fare/130494 ''Klassekampen'' og den jødiske fare]" [''Klassekampen'' and the Jewish danger]. ''Minerva''.</ref><ref name=Brekke2023>Brekke, Torkel (2023). ''Ingen er uskyldig: Antisemittisme på venstresiden''. Cappelen Damm. pp. 144–168. ISBN 9788202757212.</ref><ref name=brekke1/><ref name=brekke2/> 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,"<ref name="Ramnefjell"/> 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.<ref name=PSt/>

==History==
It was founded as a monthly [[Maoism|Maoist]] periodical by a self-described "group of marxist-leninists" with [[Steigan.no|Pål Steigan]] and Tron Øgrim as key figures in 1969.{{efn|A different Norwegian communist newspaper of the same name existed from 1909 until 1940, when [[Nazi Germany]] occupied Norway.<ref>{{wpa|Klassekampen (1909–1940)|''Klassekampen'' (1909–1940)}}</ref>}} It eventually became the newspaper of the Maoist {{wpl|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.<ref>[https://www.idunn.no/doi/10.18261/ISSN0805-9535-2011-03-10 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")</ref>

==Russia==
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 ''{{wpl|Dagbladet}}'' {{wpl|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.<ref name="Ramnefjell">{{cite news |last1=Ramnefjell |first1=Geir |date=16 March 2022 |title=Krigen sett fra koko-venstre |trans-title=The war seen from the crackpot left |work=Dagbladet |url=https://www.dagbladet.no/meninger/krigen-sett-fra-koko-venstre/75630324}}</ref> The paper was described as "[[Putin]]'s Norwegian parrots" by Norway's largest newspaper {{wpl|Aftenposten|''Aftenposten''|.}}<ref name="slettholm">{{cite news |last=Slettholm |first=Andreas |date=25 February 2022 |title=Putins norske etterplaprere må gå i seg selv |trans-title=Putin's Norwegian parrots must realize that they were wrong |work=Aftenposten |url=https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kommentar/i/pWEan6/putins-norske-etterplaprere-maa-gaa-i-seg-selv}}</ref> 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."<ref name=ApNovember2022>{{cite news |title=Aftenposten mener: Klassekampen er stadig på ville veier |url=https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/leder/i/8QXxzr/aftenposten-mener-klassekampen-er-stadig-paa-ville-veier |date=2 November 2022 |work=[[Aftenposten]]}}</ref> The political editor of ''{{wpl|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."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jacobsen |first1=Frithjof |date=25 March 2022 |title=De som hatet Amerika |work=Dagens Næringsliv |url=https://www.dn.no/uten-filter/krigen-i-ukraina/tormod-heier/bjorgulv-braanen/de-som-hatet-amerika/2-1-1189794}}</ref> However, the paper does not support the Russian invasion, and has also expressed solidarity with [[Ukraine]].

==Transphobia==
The paper has been criticized for several years by representatives of the [[LGBTQ|LGBTQ+]] community for its hostile coverage of [[transgender]] people and its promotion of [[TERF]] ideology. [[Gender]] studies scholar {{wplang|no|Janne Bromseth}} noted that "the radical left-wing newspaper ''Klassekampen'' has published regular columnists who have voiced [[transphobia|transphobic]] views for a long time."<ref name=Bromseth>Janne Bromseth (7 July 2022): [https://www.ottar.se/%ef%bf%bcnu-foljer-ilskan-mot-medias-ansvarsloshet/ Nu följer ilskan mot medias ansvarslöshet], ''{{wpl|Ottar (magazine)|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"])</ref> 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.<ref name=Abdi>Mohamed Abdi (2020). [https://web.archive.org/web/20220129005937/https://twitter.com/mohamabd86/status/1288756096509902848 Klassekampen er delaktig i normaliseringen av hatprat i vårt samfunn] [Klassekampen is involved in promoting hate]</ref> In 2020 and 2021 many in the LGBTQ+ community in Norway cancelled their subscriptions due to the paper's anti-trans articles.<ref name=Bromseth2021>See e.g. [https://www.facebook.com/janne.bromseth/posts/pfbid0zVCqADrdusFAdpPeARu6CrxQAYaTt6QHy3vR1FtwKevFsRGaCZixh58VqzKUGbiwl this discussion]</ref><ref name=Abdi/> Janne Bromseth wrote:

{{quotebox|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.<ref name=Bromseth2021/>}}

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:

{{quotebox|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.<ref>Johannes Jacobsen (14 August 2021). [https://klassekampen.no/artikkel/2021-08-14/debatt-klassekampens-ansvar Klassekampens ansvar]. ''Klassekampen''.</ref>}}

Journalism researcher {{wpl|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.<ref name="Larsen">{{cite news |last=Larsen|first=Jon Martin|title=Jeg håper du vet hva du gjør, Mari Skurdal |url=https://m24.no/debatt-jon-martin-larsen-klassekampen/jeg-haper-du-vet-hva-du-gjor-mari-skurdal/315498 |work=M24|trans-title=I hope you know what you do, Mari Skurdal}}</ref><ref name="Larsen2">{{cite news |last=Larsen|first=Jon Martin|title=Hvorfor fortsetter Klassekampen å tråkke på mennesker?|url=https://m24.no/debatt-jon-martin-larsen-klassekampen/hvorfor-fortsetter-klassekampen-a-trakke-pa-mennesker/434653|work=M24|trans-title=Why does ''Klassekampen'' continue to trample on people?}}</ref> The newspaper's editor Mari Skurdal, who has previously defended [[J.K. Rowling]]'s views on trans people and referred to [[Women's Declaration International|WDI]] as "[[women's rights]] advocates," has denied that the paper is transphobic<ref name="Skurdal">{{Cite web|last=Skurdal|first=Mari|title=Er Klassekampen en transfobisk avis? På ingen måte|trans-title=Is Klassekampen a transphobic newspaper? Absolutely not|url=https://klassekampen.no/utgave/2022-01-15/nar-alt-blir-hat|access-date=2022-01-19|work=Klassekampen}}</ref> and complained about "[[cancel culture]]" due to the criticism of the paper's anti-trans articles.<ref>[https://klassekampen.no/utgave/2022-09-21/fokus/grEC Skyt budbringen]</ref>

A ''Klassekampen'' article from 2025 by Anne Kalvig, a long-time regular Klassekampen columnist (and vice chair of [[Women's Declaration International|WDI]]), was titled "Trump for reality" and strongly defended [[Donald Trump]]'s anti-trans policies.<ref name=KlassekampenTrump>[https://klassekampen.no/artikkel/2025-01-30/debatt-trump-for-virkeligheten Trump for virkeligheten]</ref> Kalvig has long enjoyed the personal support of Mari Skurdal, Klassekampen's editor-in-chief, and used her "religion column" in the paper to promote transphobia."<ref name=Bromseth/> While Skurdal criticized Kalvig for openly endorsing Donald Trump, her objection seemed less a principled defense of transgender people than a concern about the poor optics of aligning anti-transgender rhetoric with Trump. In a response titled "The left's continued betrayal" and published in Klassekampen, Kalvig wrote that "Donald Trump’s administration has issued crystal-clear executive orders that center the needs and rights of women and children. They are reintroducing material reality, scientific thinking, logic, and the principle of contradiction into language," and called it a "welcome reversal" of Democratic policies. Kalvig wrote in Klassekampen that "there is no reason we shouldn't be able to use Trump's executive orders on gender as a basis for reflection on what is being done in this area here at home."<ref>Anne Kalvig. [https://klassekampen.no/artikkel/2025-02-14/debatt-venstresidens-fortsatte-svik/sEze Venstresidens fortsatte svik] [The left's continued betrayal]. Klassekampen. 14 February 2025.</ref>

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 "[[Alt-right_glossary#Woke|woke]] liberals," filled with [[Conspiracy theory|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".<ref name=abp>Are Bøe Pedersen: [https://bsky.app/profile/litterat.party/post/3ljk4mxy7h22l Ekman er en velkjent transfob med bindinger til hat-organisasjoner]</ref> On social media, former ''Klassekampen'' journalist Carline Tromp called the text "insane".<ref>[https://bsky.app/profile/pallaskatt.bsky.social/post/3ljk6x3e7js22 En ganske vanvittig tekst]</ref>

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,<ref name="Larsen"/><ref name="Larsen2"/> Klassekampen employee and Internet troll Jo Røed Skårderud—an occasional collaborator of his father {{wpl|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.<ref>Jo Røed Skårderud (2025): [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/178.232.20.180 On Jon Martin Larsen: "he lost"]</ref> 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<ref>Sandra Lillebø (15 August 2025): "[https://klassekampen.no/artikkel/2025-08-15/angrep-fra-alle-kanter Angrep fra alle kanter: Å la være å stille spørsmål er aldri en god strategi]." ''Klassekampen''</ref> 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"<ref name=KlassekampenTrump/> — 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.<ref>{{cite journal |author-last1=McLean |author-first1=Craig |title=The Growth of the Anti-Transgender Movement in the United Kingdom: The Silent Radicalization of the British Electorate |journal=International Journal of Sociology |date=2021 |volume=51 |issue=6 |pages=473–482 |doi=10.1080/00207659.2021.1939946 |s2cid=237874806 |url=http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/46370/9/The%20Growth%20of%20the%20Anti%20Transgender%20Movement%20in%20the%20United%20Kingdom%20The%20Silent%20Radicalization%20of%20the%20British%20Electorate.pdf }}</ref>

Trans rights advocate and writer {{wplang|no|Luca Dalen Espseth}} said that Klassekampen fails in confronting fascism because "they're so damn obsessed with the idea that [[transphobia]] is important and correct."<ref>[https://bsky.app/profile/bestmedbart.bsky.social/post/3m2cvpmi2zs2r KK feiler fordi de er så jævla opphengt i at transfobi er viktig og riktig]</ref>

==Antisemitism==
[[File:Trond Andresen (cropped).jpg|thumb|Prominent anti-semite {{wpl|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.<ref name=Brekke2023/><ref name=Simonsen/> In 2008, prominent anti-semite {{wpl|Trond Andresen}} – who announced his support for [[Marine Le Pen]] in 2016 and now often shares platforms with [[Neo-Nazism|Neo-Nazis]] – was appointed by Klassekampen's editor-in-chief as the sole editor (or "moderator") of its Internet debate forum.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Braanen |first1=Bjørgulv |title=Klassekampen med nytt debattforum på nett |url=http://www.klassekampen.no/53250/article/item/null |work=Klassekampen |date=19 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929232157/http://www.klassekampen.no/53250/article/item/null |archive-date=2011-09-29 |quote=Trond Andresen, som tidligere har drevet debattlista KK-forum, blir moderator for et nytt debattforum på nettet som Klassekampen lanserer i dag}}</ref> As a regular columnist over 16 years, Andresen wrote countless articles promoting anti-Semitic narratives in the paper, also prior to 2008.<ref name=Brekke2023/><ref name=Simonsen/>

Historian {{wpl|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.<ref name=Brekke2023/><ref name=brekke1>[https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikk/i/zEWggO/da-sionisme-ble-nazisme Torkel Brekke: Da sionisme ble nazisme]</ref><ref name=brekke2>Torkel Brekke: [https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikk/i/15xvyB/venstresiden-maa-ta-paa-alvor-at-antisemittisme-ogsaa-finnes-i-deres-leir Venstresiden må ta på alvor at antisemittisme også finnes i deres leir]</ref>

==Broader reactionary turn==

Consistent with its broader reactionary "[[Alt-right glossary#Woke|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".<ref>[https://klassekampen.no/utgave/2023-05-09/venstresida-ma-ikke-vaere-woke Venstresida må ikke være woke] [The left must not be woke]. ''Klassekampen'', 2023.</ref><ref>[https://klassekampen.no/artikkel/2025-06-06/venstresida-er-ikke-woke Venstresida er ikke woke] [The left is not woke]. ''Klassekampen'', 2023.</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web |last=Huneke |first=Samuel Clowes|title=Critically Cringe: On Susan Neiman’s “Left Is Not Woke”
|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/critically-cringe-on-susan-neimans-left-is-not-woke/|work=Los Angeles Review of Books |date=September 17, 2023}}</ref>

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:
{{cquote|There is mobilization for an anti-fascist struggle. But is that where the real struggle lies in Norway?|||Klassekampen's editor<ref>[https://klassekampen.no/utgave/2025-05-21/fokus Lite lur alarmisme]. ''Klassekampen'', 2025</ref>}}

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.<ref>Ronny Kjelsberg: [https://klassekampen.no/utgave/2025-06-16/debatt-om-overtroen-pa-offentlig-debatt Om (over)troen på offentlig debatt]</ref><ref>Audun Lysbakken: [https://klassekampen.no/utgave/2025-05-22/debatt-lite-lure-lettvintheter Lite lure lettvintheter]</ref>

''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 "[[Alt-right glossary#Woke|anti-woke]]" rhetoric often promoted by ''Klassekampen''. Lars West Johnsen, the editor-in-chief of {{wpl|Dagsavisen}}, wrote that:
{{quotebox|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.<ref>Lars West Johnsen (2025): [https://frifagbevegelse.no/debatt/alarmen-gar-var-en-gary-var-en-audun-6.490.1139880.babbeba99e Alarmen går. Vær en Gary. Vær en Audun]. ''Fri Fagbevegelse''.</ref>}}

==Steigan's criticism==
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.<ref name=PSt>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bm5C-uq1h4 Samtale med Pål Steigan]</ref>

==Analysis==

Klassekampen began in the late 1960s as a Maoist party paper, very much in the tradition of Cold War revolutionary journalism. It was explicitly doctrinaire, under the thumb of the AKP (Workers' Communist Party), and functioned less as a newspaper than as an instrument of cadre education and propaganda. When the Cold War ended and the AKP declined, Klassekampen tried to reinvent itself as a broad left newspaper. In doing so, it entered a delicate balancing act by trying to retain its oppositional identity while surviving in a liberal-democratic media market. The ideological certainty of Maoism was replaced with a mix of skepticism toward power, hostility to U.S. hegemony, and a nostalgia for class-based politics.

Klassekampen exemplifies something that historians of left-wing movements often note: certain radical-left outlets, when cut off from organized socialist movements, can drift toward "anti-liberalism" rather than "anti-capitalism." That is, they reject cosmopolitan, feminist, or anti-racist politics not from a conservative origin but from a residual anti-elite reflex. This has happened elsewhere too — think of Germany's Querfront scene. In Klassekampen's case, this manifests as a culture war populism couched in class rhetoric: "anti-woke" ideology, anti-globalism, and sympathy for nationalist or "traditional" left figures who reject social liberalism. It's a well-documented pattern: a rhetorical shift from materialist universalism to particularist moral panic.

The paper's tolerance for conspiracy theories or pro-Kremlin framings mirrors a broader "red–brown" convergence, where segments of the radical left and far right share anti-globalist, anti-NATO, or "anti-elite" frames, even if for different reasons. This is not unique to Norway. Across Europe, portions of the old communist press or activist networks have adopted "multipolar" worldviews that echo Russian or far-right talking points about "woke imperialism" or "degenerate liberalism." What distinguishes Klassekampen is that it does this while trying to remain "respectable." That makes the shift subtler but arguably more influential.

In its coverage of trans people, Klassekampen exemplifies how appeals to "debate" can function less as dialogue and more as a strategy of marginalization. Historically, when dominant groups lose ideological confidence, they often rebrand prejudice as "open inquiry." The "[[just asking questions]]" trope around trans rights recalls how 1990s European papers framed [[Islamophobia]] as "rational concern." That rhetorical move, performing "neutrality" while platforming hostility, is well-known in press history. It provides social cover for reactionary politics while maintaining intellectual pretension.

The historical documentation of antisemitism in Klassekampen's early decades fits a broader trend on parts of the Cold War left: confusing anti-Zionism with anti-Jewish narratives. The idea that Zionists were complicit in Nazism, or that Israel's crimes "relativize" the Holocaust, appeared in several far-left circles of the 1970s. Historiographically, this illustrates how ideological zeal can warp moral reasoning when anti-imperialism is treated as an absolute principle overriding all others.

In sum, Klassekampen's trajectory embodies what some scholars call the metamorphosis of the radical left into the populist anti-liberal camp.
Where once it opposed capitalism in the name of universal emancipation, it now often opposes liberalism in the name of cultural tradition or "common sense." The shift isn't necessarily to the right in economic terms, but it's reactionary in its social imagination: nostalgic, moralizing, and suspicious of pluralism.

==See also==
*[[Steigan.no]], a separate project also founded by Pål Steigan

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Leftists who turned right with age]]
[[Category:Communism]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Media]]
[[Category:Newspapers]]
[[Category:Norway]]
[[Category:Transphobia]]

Categories: Leftists who turned right with age, Communism, Conspiracy theorists, Media, Newspapers, Norway, Transphobia