When Students Protest: Secondary and High Schools

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Student political action has been a major and recurring feature of politics across the globe throughout the past century. Students have been involved in a full range of public issues, from anti-colonial movements, anti-war campaigns, civil rights and pro-democracy movements to campaigns against neoliberal policies, austerity, racism, misogyny and calls for climate change action. Yet student protest actions are frequently dismissed by political elites and others as 'adolescent mischief' or manipulation of young people by duplicitous adults. This occurs even as many working in government, traditional media and educational organisations attempt to suppress student movements. Much of mainstream scholarly work has also deemed student politics as undeserving of intellectual attention. These three edited volumes of books help set the record straight.

Written by scholars and activists from around the world, When Students Protest: Secondary and High Schools is the first of a three-volume study. The authors document and analyse how generations of secondary and high school students in many countries have been thoughtful, committed and effective political actors and especially so over the past decade. This book also reveals moves by power holders to stigmatise, repress and even criminalise student political campaigns. While these efforts were sometimes successful, this volume shows that whether responding to problems within schools, or engaging the major public issues of the day, school activists have renewed and revived the political culture of their society, while also challenging long-held age-based prejudices.

Reviews

"Protests have always been part of the fabric of American society, but little research regarding protests in secondary and high schools has been produced. When Students Protest: Secondary and High Schools is a timely collection of essays, the first in a three-volume study, that offers a snapshot of student organizing at this level, both in the US and internationally. Protest movements such as March for Our Lives, Save Our Schools, and School Strike 4 Climate provide case studies with eyewitness accounts and detailed analyses. Those doing research on these specific movements will find both the information presented in the chapters and their extensive bibliographies valuable. Social media plays an integral role in this research, which will be helpful to those who study how student activism and protests evolved because of these platforms. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals." --Choice Reviews

"Teachers, academics and teacher educators alike will find pedagogical and historical inspiration from across all chapters, which in their unique way, interpret the momentum and impact of globally diverse student activism." --Australian Journal of Environmental Education

Protests have always been part of the fabric of American society, but little research regarding protests in secondary and high schools has been produced. When Students Protest: Secondary and High Schools is a timely collection of essays, the first in a three-volume study, that offers a snapshot of student organizing at this level, both in the US and internationally. Protest movements such as March for Our Lives, Save Our Schools, and School Strike 4 Climate provide case studies with eyewitness accounts and detailed analyses. Those doing research on these specific movements will find both the information presented in the chapters and their extensive bibliographies valuable. Social media plays an integral role in this research, which will be helpful to those who study how student activism and protests evolved because of these platforms. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

Teachers, academics and teacher educators alike will find pedagogical and historical inspiration from across all chapters, which in their unique way, interpret the momentum and impact of globally diverse student activism.

Author Bio

Judith Bessant is a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and a Professor at RMIT University, Australia.

Analicia Mejia Mesinas is an Assistant Professor, Azusa Pacific University, California, USA.

Sarah Pickard is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher at Universit Sorbonne Nouvelle, France.