Student Movements in Late Neoliberalism. Forms of Organization, Alliances, and Outcomes

Abstract

Several episodes of student unrest have taken place, both in advanced and developing economies, since the turn of the twenty-first century. These protests suggest that universities have regained centrality as locus of contention in contemporary societies, but also that students—and more generally the young—have become more politically involved. The introduction of the edited volume “Student Movements in Late Neoliberalism. Dynamics of Contention and their Consequences” provides a discussion and overview of three main themes that have called the attention of recent scholarship on student activism: (i) the current transformation in the conceptions and practices of higher education; (ii) the organizational forms of student movements, including the tactics they employ; (iii) and the alliances they engage in, as well as the outcomes of their struggles. In doing so, we introduce our theoretical discussion on the topic, developed from social movement studies. More specifically, building upon research on episodes of student unrest after the 2008 financial crisis, we look at their mode of organizing and action tactics, on the one hand, and their configuration of allies and achieved outcomes, on the other. We also explore how and to what extent such aspects are to be understood as the result of strategic choices made by the student activists themselves during the process of mobilization. The broad geographical scope of the volume, with chapters dealing with events that occurred in Latin and North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, partially rectifies a bias of mainstream academia, namely the focus on cases of the global North.