Sites of Struggle as Sites of Learning: Student Activism as Counter-Hegemonic Resistance to the Neoliberal University in Pakistan

The emergence of student-led collectives in Pakistan and their persistent efforts to democratize education suggest a growing political consciousness among students. After a prolonged silence of 38 years, marked by the depoliticization of youth through an official ban on student unions in 1984, the recent countrywide Student Solidarity Marches of 2019, 2020 and 2021 have resuscitated progressive forces in higher education. This nascent wave of student activism in Pakistan is becoming increasingly vocal and socially visible, thereby necessitating the study of its contours. Its independence from political patrons, a culturally diverse and inclusive student membership and use of social media (see Chap. 11 in this volume) for traction represents a major shift from student politics of the past. Existing literature on student politics in Pakistan is primarily based on a historical analysis of periods of authoritarian rule, focusing on ideological tensions between student organizations and the state. This chapter shifts the focus by looking inwards and unearthing lived experiences of student activists, who are at the forefront of pockets of organized political action across the country. With a specific focus on the present socio-political context, which is characterized by an environment of heightened repression, it illuminates the ways in which student activists are navigating a crackdown on dissidents and struggling to build a politically aware youth in educational spaces and beyond. Interviews of five student activists associated with an umbrella student organization called Progressive Students’ Collective (PSC) were conducted between June to August 2021. The analysis attempts to theorize their lived experiences by acknowledging the alternative knowledge co-constructed by student activists, as a form of counter-hegemonic resistance to Pakistan’s neoliberal higher education system. It argues that student activists are creating counter spaces to assert their constitutional right to association and undermine their role as passive consumers of formal education, driven by self-interest and immediate economic returns of education.