Conclusions

This concluding chapter summarizes the empirical results presented in the previous chapters from a comparative perspective by locating them within previous research on social movement outcomes. In light of the findings, it reflects on the impacts of neoliberal policies in contentious politics and point at the relevance of coalitions for a sustained impact of mobilization campaigns. But beyond the policy outcomes, the discussion also points toward the student movements' effects in terms of empowerment, the triggering of spill-over movements, and transformations in electoral and party politics. After summarizing the main contributions of the book, the chapter looks at the potential lines of inquiry that can be further pursued by scholars. Given the limited attention that social movement studies have given to contentious politics in universities, it is believed that this book might help stimulate further research on student protests.

The Outcomes of Student Protest

This chapter evaluates the impact of student protests in the four regions on higher education policies. The four cases differ in the degree to which students were able to achieve concessions close to their demands. In both Chile and Quebec, as student demands were supported by significant social constituencies and the government proved unable to appease the protests, the opposition parties presented themselves as allies. These parties committed themselves to delivering reforms that would (partially) meet student demands, while students attempted to gain influence in decision-making bodies by joining political parties and/or participating in elections. By contrast, in England and Italy, students did not obtain concessions from the government, while their campaigns had a minor effect on public opinion, which remained relatively indifferent to their demands. More notably, student protesters failed to build solid alliances with other social and political actors opposing similar neoliberal measures in other fields of policy, such as trade unions, radical left parties, and social movements.

Higher Education Policies

This chapter discusses long-term and short-term political-economic changes occurring in the field of higher education (HE) related to the recent wave of student protests. It offers a historical overview of the trend of marketization affecting the HE sectors of Chile, England, Italy, and Quebec in recent decades. The four regions under investigation cover different HE systems, from those where the role of the state is still prominent (Italy and Quebec), and the commodification trend is not so strong, to others in which the market, along with the commodification of the sector, have acquired greater relevance over recent decades (England and Chile). The chapter argues that the different pace and form of the marketization process have heavily affected the ways in which students mobilized in terms of action repertoires, political goals and demands, and organizational structures. Exploring the variety and the institutional differences in the field of HE helps one assess the variety of the student movements embedded in such fields.

Student Politics

This chapter examines the different dimensions of student politics and their differences in the four cases. Student organizations differ significantly across countries. Previous research has singled out different models of student representation in decision-making instances, as well as the different traditions of activism and politicization of the student body. The chapter argues that these differences must be considered to understand the capacity of students to become significant and/or influential political actors — even if they rarely exert an influence in a continuous manner. The four cases studied in this book cover four configurations that result from the combinations of (fragmented or coordinated) movement politics and (more or less institutionalized) union politics. Besides providing an historical narrative of student activism in the four regions, the chapter explains how these four configurations have shaped the options for students to generalize a platform of demands and mobilize in each region.

The Contentious Politics of Higher Education

This chapter provides an overview of the analysis of transformation in higher education (HE) policies and student politics, linking them to research on the policy outcomes of social movements. HE policies have been shaped by various waves of student mobilization. Students have often been important actors in contentious politics, mobilizing on all main cleavages in society and often stimulating spin-off movements, as well as affecting institutional politics at large. Student protests are therefore affected by public policies at least as much as they affect them. This book focuses on these complex interactions, aiming at understanding the development of student protests within neoliberal universities. It explores four episodes of student contestation over HE reforms, which have recently taken place in Chile, Quebec, England, and Italy.

Student Campaigns

This chapter illustrates the temporal trajectories and the main characteristics of the recent student mobilizations, occurring in the four cases under investigation, that oppose measures promoted by national governments to foster a neoliberal model of higher education. In exploring the goals, strategies, and action repertoires of such mobilizations, it notes similarities and differences between the actors involved in the protests within and across the four regions. To begin with, students have various traditions of activism in the four cases studied, which have informed contemporary movements. Moreover, in the four cases, the mobilization campaigns have shown a surprisingly high (especially for England and Quebec) confrontational orientation, exemplified by the adoption of very disruptive protest tactics, such as street blockades, and railway and university occupations. Similar also were the main demands and goals pursued by the students, who were concerned with the negative consequences of the process of marketization affecting their universities and their lives, and the support of the restoration of a stronger public system with a more democratic outlook. Yet, some key differences across the four cases were identified in the various capacities of students to build unitary protest fronts and to make alliances with other social and political actors, such as leftist political parties and trade unions — a capacity which was higher in the Quebec and Chilean cases, and lower in the Italian and English ones.