Galvanizing Academia: Student Protests and Navalny’s Anti-corruption Movement

• In Event: Political and Legal Questions in the Post-Soviet Space

Abstract

Persistent student protests around the world have led to dramatic changes in some countries, including both democracies and non-democracies. Nevertheless, student activism does not enjoy as much attention of the scholars as it did in the aftermath of the student rebellious 1960s. This study tests Habermas’ notion of student movements in authoritarian regimes. This study tries to answer the following questions: What students in Russia protest against, what are their demands, and how Navalny’s anti-corruption movement impacts student protests. This study is based on a systematic research of media reports conducted with the help of content analysis. This research identifies and analyzes media reports on student protesting actions in Russia over sixteen years, from 2001 to 2016. This paper offers a typology of student protests, delineating twenty-seven types of protests based on the criterion of the cause of action. This study presents a comprehensive classification that takes into account location of the protest, number of participants, level of the issue addressed, and relation to the college administration. This paper proceeds with presenting examples of student protests that come from different regions. These student protests are split into three distinct groups: political protests, non-political protests, and protests related to international issues. The data shows that the most well attended protests are those likely or openly supported by university administration. These are the protests that unite hundreds and sometimes even thousands of students in just one university, while political protests that address national issues can barely assemble a dozen or two students.

Author

• Ararat Osipian, The New School