TIMLINE

1968

France: Inspired by the Situationist International Movement, students in Paris, France, joined with workers and shut down the factories and schools of the city.  The movement was violently repressed, but both groups won significant concessions.

Paris students defending a barricade.

Mexico: Students in Mexico responded to the student uprisings in France and elsewhere by taking over their universities and linking the Autonomous Universities with the Polytechnic Universities.  Mexican police began kidnapping, torturing, and killing student leaders, but the movement continued to grow.  With the 1968 Mexico City Olympics nearing, students and workers began criticizing the government for the hypocrisy of hosting the Olympics in the midst of poverty and repression.  On October 2, just days before the opening ceremonies, Mexican police and army opened fire on 10,000 students and workers meeting in the Tlatelolco housing complex, killing over 500 and jailing and disappearing more.

US: Spurned by the Vietnam War draft, American students began questioning their educations and their position in a changing US society.  Students involved in the Civil Rights Movement, through participation in Freedom Summer for example, returned to their campus radicalized, and began organizing against the war and against Capitalism.  Students also provided support to armed movements like the Black Panther Party.  Groups like Students for a Democratic Society and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee flourished, and eventually militant groups of students split off and formed the Weather Underground and Symbionese Liberation Army.  The Weathermen carried out multiple bombings before going underground.  Even after coming above-ground, many of them weren't charged.

The Weathermen at a march.

Weather Underground member, and current University of Illinois-Chicago professor, Bill Ayers.

1970s

Throughout South America, particularly in Chile and Argentina, students led the fight against US-sponsored dictatorships there.  The CIA helped coordinate the crackdown which resulted in thousands of students and workers being "disappeared"--murdered with the body disposed of.  On Noche de los lápices (Night of the Pencils in Argentina), student leaders were disappeared and and tortured.  Hundreds of thousands were displaced internally throughout the continent.  Day of the Student is now cause for riots in Chile, and students have maintained the memory of their lost comrades 30+ years later through militant actions.

Some of the students disappeared during Noche de los Lápices.

1980s

Mexico: Once again, students provided the impetus for political change in Mexico.  Students returning from the cities began a political movement in Juchitán, Oaxaca.  Along with workers and campesinos, they handed the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the single governing party, their first electoral loss in over 60 years and opened the door for more democratic elections in years to come.  More importantly, they re-envisioned how politics was to be done in Mexico.

1990s

US: On the heels of the Zapatista uprising in Mexico in 1994 and the formation of the anti-globalization/global justice movement, American college students began looking for ways to challenge their universities' roles in the global economy.  Students investigated the conditions under which their university apparel, like sweatshirts and t-shirts, were produced, and found that most were produced under exploitative, if not illegal, conditions.  Through a series of sit-ins and direct actions, they were able to force brands like Nike and adidas to redesign their production practices.  (Though there is still much to be done!  See page X for more information)

Mexico: In 1999, in protest over plans to dramatically increase tuition at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, National University of Mexico), students planned a university-wide strike, barricading main streets, holding guerrilla classes, and taking over buildings.  Police cracked down on the protest, beating and arresting students, and almost 10 years later, some student leaders remain in jail.

2006

France: Students responded to plans to deregulate labor practices, which would have negatively affected their job prospects.  Protests spread throughout the country, with students barricading streets and clashing with police.  Students cancelled classes on their campuses and took over buildings, and even carried professors out that tried to hold classes.

Mexico: Students played a key role in the movement to oust Oaxacan governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, who many believed was corrupt and responsible for repression against a teachers' strike in May of 2006.  The Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca (UABJO, Benito Juarez University of Oaxaca) housed the main insurgent radio station, and many students were routinely attacked and jailed, with several remaining in jail today.  A few faculty were even publicly listed on hit lists.

2008-9:

Greece: Greek students began rioting just hours after a 15-year old anarchist boy was gunned down by police in Athens.  The movement was based largely in the universities, with students taking over buildings, holding public assemblies, and carrying out barricades, squats, and other actions throughout the country.  Students are also the main force in the struggle against fascism and white supremacism in Greece, with frequent and violent street fights with neo-Nazi groups.

US: Students at New School in New York City campaigned against the mis-management of their university, and occupied several buildings.  Soon after they were evicted, students at New York University began occupations on their campus for many of the same reasons.  Students around the country carried out solidarity actions in support of the occupations.

Student at the New School occupation, on the roof of an occupied building.

1969: Berkeley students fought with police and National Guard to open up People's Park.  One man was killed and 60 were wounded by police.