The Politics Of International Student Protest (Chicago)

Held at Loyola University on April 15, 2015.

Panelists: 
-- David Mountain (London, UK) 
-- Jocelyn Li (Halifax, Canada) 
-- Sebastian Vetter (Vienna, Austria) 
-- Shirin Hagner (Frankfurt, Germany)

While the academy is more liberal than the American mainstream, economic pressures, such as declining opportunities to succeed on the job market, have led to a general depoliticization of the recent generation, the “millennials.” In Europe, on the other hand, the academy still appears as a hotbed of student radicalism: occupations of university buildings across Europe in 2009, demonstrations in UK universities in 2010 to resist tuition hikes and spending cuts, and various protests calling for more democracy and less austerity throughout Europe, but particularly in Greece and Spain.

The Platypus Affiliated Society presents a round-table discussion with student activists from Europe and Canada who will share their views on recent protest movements in their countries. What issues have been prominent? What has been the relationship between student movements and traditional agents of social change, such as labor unions and social democratic or socialist parties? In the past, professors such as Herbert Marcuse played a significant role in radicalizing protesters. Whom do student activists regard today as sources of intellectual and political inspiration, and what does this influence look like?

We invite local students to share their own experiences with these international representatives, and to discuss the possibilities for a re-politicized student body in the United States.

Sponsored by the Loyola University Student Activities Fund, with the support of Loyola's Student Activities and Greek Affairs.