Local to Global Justice: Learning From 16 Years of Student Activism and Community Engagement

• In Event: Student and Scholar Activism: Reciprocal Mentoring for Social Justice

Abstract

In these times, sustainable models for student activism are highly relevant. This study adds to emerging research on the positive impacts of student activism on education, academics, leadership, and community engagement by examining how planning an annual social justice forum and festival sponsored by Local to Global Justice (www.localtoglobal.org) impacts students’ academic and career trajectories, professional development, leadership, and community engagement and activism. Former and current student leaders, faculty mentors, and community members (N = 40) completed an online survey about their educational experiences and related activism pertinent to planning the Local to Global Justice (LTGJ) Forum and Festival, and shared their perceptions about the value of student activism to higher education. The study and paper were co-authored by current and former student leaders of Local to Global Justice and faculty mentors. Grounded in Paulo Freire’s notions of critical consciousness and praxis (1985, 1970/1986), this paper illustrates how activism regarding local and global justice struggles enriches students’ educational experiences within and beyond university walls. Freire promoted the notion that education provides an avenue for students to change the world by opening their eyes to the inequalities and oppression surrounding them and guiding them to a critical consciousness.
Findings indicate that LTGJ reflects Freire’s theories of critical consciousness and praxis. Consistent with Freire’s theory, students acknowledged that their involvement in LTGJ has helped them recognize their active role in initiating social change. Students reported that their involvement in LTGJ has made them aware of the intertwined connections between their education and the lived realities of surrounding communities, the crux of Freire’s theory. Findings indicate that involvement in Local to Global Justice has played a positive role in students’ educational experiences, career and professional development, leadership development, and community engagement and activism. Specifically, involvement in the LTGJ multi-issue, activist, student-driven organization has contributed to student learning about a) scholar-activism, b) critical thinking, c) previously unexplored career paths, d) connections among activism, and teaching and research, e) application of knowledge to the world beyond the university, f) leadership skills, g) community engagement and activism, and h) the challenges and benefits of multi-issue activism.
Activism in LTGJ, benefiting from reciprocal mentorship (Nakagawa & Swadener, 2015) with faculty, has allowed students to a) build connections with other activists and community members, b) fight for causes and establish organizations around a wide range of social justice issues, and c) recognize and address the challenges and benefits that multi-issue activism presents. Via reflection and action, Freire’s (1986/2000) principles of critical consciousness and praxis renders the integration of organizations such as Local to Global Justice critical into the fabric of higher education to sustain a model of problem-posing education that permits students to recognize, or name, and challenge, or transform, injustices in their local and global communities.

Authors

• Flora Farago, Stephen F. Austin State University

• Beth Blue Swadener, Arizona State University

• Kimberly Ann Eversman, Wartburg College

• Lacey Elizabeth Peters, Hunter College - CUNY