Movement 124

a resurgence?
Signs of hope for student activism from the global justice and peace movements?
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Stroll through any campus in the UK today and mention
Stop the War or MakePovertyHistory, and you
are likely to receive a passionate vote of support.
Certainly everyone will know what you are talking
about. But although there is a higher awareness of
global issues among UK students today than there
has been for several years, to what extent is this
awareness translated into committed action, and is
it effective in bringing about real change?
Certainly there is no shortage of opportunities for
students to get involved in social activism and
protest on today's campuses. Since the rise of the
anti-globalisation movement in the mid-nineties
a huge number of student-focused campaigning
groups have set up across the UK, tackling a wide
variety of issues. Groups such as SPEAK, People &
Planet, Student Action on Refugees, No Sweat and
many others are now well represented as student
societies on many campuses. And many students
are making the most of the chance to be involved.
ln recent years students have been heavily involved
in big national protests and campaign actions such
as the CB protests in Scotland in 2005, and the antiwar
marches in London and elsewhere. Locally,
too, students have been active in raising awareness
about campaigns, lobbying their local MPs and doing
campaign actions on their own campuses.
Campaign-themed gigs and club nights, fairtrade
fashion shows and ethical fairs are now common
student events, along with more unusual actions.
SPEAK activists at the University of Manchester
recently organised a 'die-in' outside the students'
union involving white t-shirts, lots of fake blood
and lying down pretending to be dead to campaign
for their university to disinvest in UK arms companies,
and succeeded in gaining the union's backing
for the campaign. Elsewhere, activists from Student
Action for Refugees (STAR) at the University of East
Anglia covered their campus in washing lines from
which hung hundreds of pairs of undergarments,
communicating their message that the UK government's
refugee policy is, well, pants.
But is this explosion in both awareness and activism
producing any meaningful results? Obviously the
lraq war still happened; MakePovertyHistory saw
some progress with global debt, but painfully little
in global trade; and the government's refugee policy
is still pants. Perhaps some encouragement can be
drawn from the experiences of students outside the
UK. Students recently succeeded in bringing about
big changes to the French government's employment
policy after they organised some of the country's largest
student protests in recent history. And in Chile,
student protestors as young as 1 3 and 1 4 succeeded
in turning around their country's education policies.
However, many of the big global issues of today's
world are dazzlingly complex and deeply ingrained
in society and culture, and the challenge to activists
both student and non-student is to be committed
for the long haul. So what of the future? Can the
student protest movement maintain its current
momentum, or will ilfizzle out? Will individual students,
so dedicated to the cause while on campus,
remain as dedicated once they graduate?
An interesting feature of much of social activism on
UK campuses today is a renewed interest in what has
traditionally been a no-go area for the socially conscious:
spirituality. The recent explosion
of campaigning and protesting
activity has been accompanied
by a fresh engagement with
various differeni spiritual traditions.
This has been particularly
marked among environmental
activists, but has begun to influence
most streams of student
activism. As those committed to
social and environmental justice
begin to realise both the depth
of the change required in society
and the long-term commitments
needed to see those changes,
more and more are beginning to
look for a deeper source of inspiration
and energy for their activism.
This is an exciting development for
Christians, who find themselves
with something meaningful to offer
to those searching, and also with
much to learn and to gain from student
activists' passion for the poor
and the environment.
It remains to be seen whether th is newfound
spiritual awareness will inspire
today's student activists to deeper,
longer-lasti ng commitment and even
greater successes than their forerunners.
However, it appears that the
long, distinguished history of students
involved
in radicalprotest
and campaigning
for social
change isnt
aboutto end any
time soon. O
Nathan Thomas
works for SPEAK.
Pictures (from top
to bottom):
SPEAK members
(Nathan Thomas)
Die-in (Kate
Coodacre)
Lying under
burdens (Tint
Nafziger)
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