When Students Protest

Judith Bessant; Analicia Mejia Mesinas; Sarah Pickard

doi:10.5771/9781786611819

Summary

Student political action has been a major and recurring feature of politics across the globe throughout the past century. Students have been involved in a full range of public issues, from anti-colonial movements, anti-war campaigns, civil rights and pro-democracy movements to campaigns against neoliberal policies, austerity, racism, misogyny and calls for climate change action. Yet their actions are frequently dismissed by political elites and others as ‘adolescent mischief’ or manipulation of young people by duplicitous adults. This occurs even as many working in governments, traditional media and educational organisations attempt to suppress student movements. Moreover, much of mainstream scholarly work has deemed student politics as unworthy of intellectual attention. These three edited volumes of books help set the record straight.

Written by scholars and activists from around the world, When Students Protest: Universities in the Global North is the third in this three-volume study that explores university student politics in the global north. Authors explore university and college student political action, especially over the past decade. It is just over fifty years since May 1968 when student protests erupted at Université Paris Nanterre in France and then spread across the globe. Contributors to this book demonstrate that despite repeated attempts by states, power elites and institutions to suppress and even criminalise student political action, student movements have always been part of the political landscape and remain a significant and potent source of political change and renewal.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2021
ISBN-Print: 978-1-78661-179-6
ISBN-Online: 978-1-78661-181-9
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 298
Product type: Edited Book

1. Contents No access
2. Acknowledgments No access
1. The Politics of Politics and Language No access
2. Note No access
3. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. An Insider Perspective No access
3. In Search of Identity at Nanterre University No access
4. Calling on the “Spirit of 68”: Neoliberal Performance and Student Myth No access
5. Student Protest and Live Activation of Memories: “Ils commémorent, on continue” (They Commemorate, We Continue) No access
6. Conclusion No access
7. Notes No access
8. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. Student Protests: The Comparative Challenge No access
3. Three Contrasting Movements No access
4. Three student movements (2011–2014) No access
5. The “Words of Anger”: An Approach by Slogans No access
6. Word Clouds: A Comparison of the Three Student Movements No access
7. Two “Worlds” of Student Anger? No access
8. Education, Intergenerational Justice, Democracy: A Common Thread No access
9. Conclusion No access
10. Note No access
11. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. University Protests in the European Context No access
3. The Raison d’être of the Amsterdam University Protests No access
4. The Unfolding of the Amsterdam University Protests No access
5. Outcomes of the Amsterdam University Protests No access
6. Conclusion: The University as a Microcosm and an Incubator of Counter-Globalization Critique No access
7. Notes No access
8. References No access
1. Context No access
2. Methodology No access
3. Dynamics of the Conflict No access
4. Inside the Quebec Student Movement: Structured Yet Heterogeneous No access
5. Negotiating with the Government No access
6. Media Coverage of Student Protests No access
7. Use of Social Media by Students No access
8. Conclusion: The Relational Dynamics of Silencing “Silly” Student Voices No access
9. Notes No access
10. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. Impact of Corporatization on Students and Faculty No access
3. Building Solidarity for Campus Food Service Workers No access
4. The Path to Winning the Strike No access
5. Strategic Organizing by the Cross-Campus Alliance No access
6. Conclusion: Campus Coalition-Building Matters No access
7. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. Neoliberal Education Policies and Workfare: What to Protest Against? No access
3. Students Contesting Neoliberalism: From the Anomalous Wave to the Network No access
4. Education Matters. How to Combine Adaptive Claims and General Protests? No access
5. Knowledge, Subjects, Territories: A Complex Identity No access
6. Student Citizenship and Student Welfare: Insurgent Subjects against Neoliberal Policies No access
7. Conclusion No access
8. Notes No access
9. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. Literature Review No access
3. Data and Methodology No access
4. Analysis: Exploration of the Students’ Potential to Induce the Social Change No access
5. Discussion and Conclusion No access
6. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. Rediscovering the Forgotten Student Rebellions No access
3. Case Study 1: Students against Ethnonationalism No access
4. Case Study 2: Students against Neoliberalism No access
5. Conclusion No access
6. Notes No access
7. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. Background and Context: Student Life and Subdued Protest in North Queensland No access
3. Securitization and Student Protest in a Post-9/11 World No access
4. Neoliberalism and the Australian Higher-Education Sector No access
5. When Students Do Protest Case Study: Students against Staff Cuts No access
6. Discussion and Conclusions No access
7. Notes No access
8. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. Students in the Framing of the Local Context No access
3. Student Strategy Initiatives No access
4. DIDA: A Noncritical Answer to Local Public Nondecision No access
5. The LAP: A Strong Critic of Neoliberalism and Local Public Action No access
6. The Influences of Students’ Initiatives on Local Political Processes No access
7. Conclusion No access
8. Notes No access
9. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. Sardinia’s Militarization and Mobilization against Land Occupation No access
3. The Rise of Collettivo Studentesco: From Squats to Antimilitary Politics No access
4. A Foras Movement Organization: The Meeting Arena No access
5. Discussion No access
6. Notes No access
7. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. Student Protest between Agency and Resistance No access
3. On Method: Campus-Based Research Design No access
4. How University Students Become Political Activists No access
5. The Social Organization of Protest Practices No access
6. Conclusion No access
7. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. Bologna and the Students: Unfolding a Complex Relationship No access
3. Emerging Alliances during the 2008 Economic Crisis No access
4. The Politics of Depoliticization and Repression No access
5. Conclusions No access
6. Notes No access
7. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. The Political Context and the Two Climate Strike Demonstrations No access
3. The Representation of the Protests in Local Newspapers No access
4. Survey Methodology No access
5. Why Did Participants Engage in the Global Climate Strike? No access
6. Conclusion No access
7. Acknowledgments No access
8. Notes No access
9. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. Cultures of Democracy and the Art(s) of Dispossession No access
3. Shared Stories of Protest No access
4. Conclusion: “It has to Start Today” No access
5. Notes No access
6. References No access
Index No access Pages 287 - 292
About the Contributors No access Pages 293 - 298