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Socialist district clubs ; organization and range of activities - In order to explore the local action of the Flemish Social-Democrats (SP), we’ve chosen to study the urban ’wijkclubs’, subsections of the party, located in the larger districts of the city. We have taken Ghent as an example, mainly because of the profusion of source material and the historical importance of Ghent in the Belgian socialist movement. The historical records prove that these ’wijkclubs’ - most of them founded in 1886 - built on activities of some early cultural associations and the cooperative society ’Vooruit’. Especially the latter supported the functioning on a financial and material basis, at the expense of radical political action, of the socialist district clubs. While the formal organisation of these subsections did not undergo any fundamental transformation, in the course of time the content changed. As a matter of fact political and ideological actions gave way to cultural activities, celebrations, trips, etc. The chief purpose became the increase in the membership figure and the preservation of their socio-cultural side-organisations. The latest period does not show much of a change : members are rarely invited to political discussions or actions. This is partly because of three major problems, which are closely related to each other : a lack of persons in charge, political apathy amongst members and a shortage of politically interested young people.
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How to Cite: Carleer, B. (1992) “De socialistische wijkclubs: uitbouw en werking”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen. 37(3). doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95111