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Key research themes
1. How do political economy changes and neoliberal reforms influence student movements and protests globally?
This research area examines the impacts of neoliberal policies on higher education systems worldwide, analyzing how marketization, austerity, privatization, and managerial reforms have triggered student protests and activism. It focuses on structural factors underpinning student mobilizations and resistance to shifts in university financing, governance, and labor conditions. Such scholarship highlights student movements as responses to broader political-economic transformations challenging access, equity, and democratic governance in education.
Key finding: This paper finds that neoliberal reforms—including increased tuition fees, marketization of education, managerialization of governance, and labor precarization—have propelled student protests in Chile and England as a key... Read more
Key finding: The analysis documents how the #FeesMustFall campaign revived and reactivated student activism in South African universities after periods of decline, demonstrating students’ pivotal role in contesting neoliberal tuition fee... Read more
Key finding: This paper chronicles the large-scale student protests in 2015 against tuition fee increases in post-apartheid South Africa, emphasizing student demographics cutting across racial and class lines, coordinated campus... Read more
2. What forms of knowledge production and learning emerge within student movements and activism?
This theme explores how student activism functions as a site of knowledge production, radical pedagogy, and collective learning. It emphasizes the role of movements in fostering alternative educational practices, challenging institutional narratives, and sustaining social justice-oriented imaginaries. Research under this theme attends to the intersections between direct action, education theory, and the radical imagination, illustrating how activism constitutes a transformative educational process both on and beyond campus.
Key finding: Using an autoethnographic case study at University of Pennsylvania, this paper reveals how campus abolitionist organizing produces movement-driven learning environments that blend direct action with radical pedagogy. The... Read more
Key finding: This literature review identifies and advocates for a unified interdisciplinary field integrating educational research on social movements. It establishes how social movements serve as educators through informal, nonformal,... Read more
Key finding: Through ethnographic research on black youth-led high school occupations in São Paulo, this study shows how incorporation of black culture and anti-racist curricular policies contribute to youth political formation and... Read more
3. How do student movements navigate political representation, governance, and state repression across diverse contexts?
This area investigates the institutional dynamics of student movements, focusing on their structures of representation, relationships with political parties and state power, and the challenges posed by governmental interventions and repression. Research addresses autonomy, legitimacy, legal frameworks, and interactions with broader political economies, illuminating how student activism is situated within complex governance landscapes and political contestations.
Key finding: Through a comparative and empirical examination across African countries, this work reveals the varied organizational models of student representation and their intricate relationships with political parties and social... Read more
Key finding: This study elucidates the tensions between state security measures and academic freedom amid government accusations that Philippine universities are recruitment grounds for insurgent groups. It philosophically and legally... Read more
Key finding: By applying a model of moral motivation, this study links social justice motives with student activism within university student organizations. It finds that components such as self-regulation and social responsibility drive... Read more
Key finding: Through an interview with a leading activist scholar, this work analyzes the innovative political communication strategies—memes, TikTok videos, satirical social media groups—used by Thai student movements to engage both... Read more