Tagged with Students

Explaining the election of Malia Bouattia

What to make of the election of Malia Malia Bouattia to the presidency of the National Union of Students? Well, the political establishment are pretty clear about the opinions every right-thinking person should have. “Malia Bouattia’s election as NUS president proves deeply divisive“, says The Graun. “Disaffiliation threat could leave NUS facing a financial blackhole“, The HuffPo writes. And eager to stir things up, the increasingly tabloid Telegraph reckons Malia’s election “sends a dark message to Jewish students“. Sounds serious.

In my younger days, I was often of the view that if radicals succeeded in pissing off the centre left establishment, then it couldn’t be so bad. Specifically in the case of the NUS, I do recall a sliver of hysteria greeting the election of Kat Fletcher to the NUS president’s post in 2004. A position, in case we’ve forgotten, that has long been regarded the private property of wannabe Labour MPs in what passes for the students’ movement. Well, the sky didn’t fall in, Kat went on to become a Jez aide/handler, and after 2006 control returned to a succession of colourless and uninteresting mediocrities. And yes Wes, I include you in that number. Continue reading →

When protests hit the news bulletins, the victim becomes the aggressor

cuts demo by Andrew Moss Photography, file at http://www.flickr.com/photos/andymoss461/5165679050/sizes/s/in/photostream/Our media portrays a strikingly Orwellian picture of dissent. The images on our TV screens betray only immediate physical violence; memorably, that of students launching themselves at the Treasury in the autumn of 2010. The comparatively marginal violence of the weak, with their makeshift tools that are unable to touch the foundation of even the symbol of the strong, is played on repeat, devoid of context; and rendered terrifying.

The tenacious structural violence (that inflicted through institutions), that precipitated such a reaction from the individuals it affects, cannot possibly be communicated via the neat packages of the six o’clock news. This far more potent violence, therefore, goes completely unrepresented. The real and severe harm it does is easily dismissed by the cheap soundbites of politicians, who talk of “mindless criminality”. Continue reading →

Justice for the Farthing Five: end the victimisation of students

University mortar boardIf you’ve been following recent events in the student movement, you may have heard of yet another worrying development at the University of Sussex. The Brighton campus has held a legendary place in the protest movement this year, as students have repeatedly occupied administration buildings in protest at privatisation and weakening of staff terms and conditions.

Now, vice-chancellor Michael Farthing has taken the extraordinary step of expelling five students associated with the occupation from their degrees. Though to be fair, it perhaps isn’t that extraordinary – I wrote about the increasing climate of crushing dissent on campuses a year and a half ago, and it’s got far worse. There is a petition being circulated calling on Farthing to reinstate the students immediately. Anyone who is concerned about academic freedom – or merely the right to protest – should sign.

Now universities openly campaign against left-wing students

Debt-in 1The big news of this morning – although it is a story that will largely go unreported – is the forced and violent eviction of the peaceful sit-in at the University of Birmingham. Early this morning, around 25 bailiffs, 25 private security guards and ten police officers, accompanied by a London-based solicitor and university officials, arrived at the occupation and dragged out students who refused to budge.

The students had defiantly voted to remain in occupation – despite a court injunction threatening them with arrest if they did not leave the premises. The university singled out two students in their legal proceedings, an increasing trend in the backlash against student activism in the past few years. But what is perhaps more remarkable is that now, universities are increasingly engaged in open political campaigning against left-wing students. Continue reading →

Take action against the student loan book privatisation

WillettsStudents have declared next week a “week of action” against the proposed privatisation of the student loan book. On Friday 18th October, students will gather outside the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills to protest the plans, which have worrying implications for students past, present and future.

An Early Day Motion (no. 542) has been launched in Parliament, spearheaded by a number of left-wing MPs working with students, who are concerned that “in order to make the student loan book profitable for private companies, [the privatisation] would need to be accompanied by either subsidies from the taxpayer or an increase in the financial burden placed on graduates.” The Student Assembly Against Austerity has designed a helpful tool for lobbying MPs to sign up to the motion – just put in your postcode, change the message if you so please, and you can send off an email to your MP on the subject. Continue reading →