Accounting and social mobilization: The counter accounts of the university student movement in Colombia

Abstract

This paper seeks to characterize and understand the role of counter accounts in organizing the 2018 university student movement in Colombia. Through the political process model (PPM), we show how counter accounts can participate in the organization of social movements and the cognitive liberation process to achieve collective action. Adopting the methodological perspective of participatory action research (PAR), we studied the case of the university student movement that surfaced due to the structural crisis caused by the underfunding of Colombian public universities. We provide evidence of how counter accounts supported the processes of organization, education and legitimization of the student movement, which facilitated the sustained mobilization and led the national government to agree on public policy actions and increase the sector’s budget.