Student Revolt

Left Book Club and Pluto Press launch Student Revolt: Voices of the Austerity Generation which focuses on the 2010 student protests. Author Matt Myers will be discussing his experience as a participant and reflecting on the lessons that can be learned from the movement.

Whatever happened to the student revolt? In 2010 young people across Britain took to the streets to defy a wave of government attacks on education, increasing tuition fees, and cuts to grants for college students. Months of occupations, ‘kettling’ and outbreaks of violence ensued, but to what effect? Today, students face new attacks on higher education from the current Conservative government.

Student Revolt tells the story of the year that introduced a generation to the power of the mass movement, through the voices of the people involved. Activists’, students’, university-occupiers’, young workers’ and politicians’ testimonies are woven together to create a narrative which starkly captures both the deep divisions as well as the intense energy that sprung from its actors. The ‘Millbank Generation’ has since moved on – some fell into political inactivity – but many went on to explore different forms of politics, where they continue to fight.

This book will provide poignant reminder of the revolt for today’s activists, as well as an opportunity to reflect on its many lessons. With an introduction from journalist Paul Mason, Student Revolt: Voices of the Austerity Generation gathers testimonies from figures including Vince Cable, Aaron Bastani, David Willetts, Nina Power and Malia Bouattia to tell the story of the year that introduced a generation to “the power of the mass movement”.

‘The student revolt represented a turning point in British politics. It was the first visible sign that austerity would meet resistance and, we hope, will eventually be reversed. But less visible, until now, was what lessons the students took from those days of rage. In the words of participants, Myers’ important work captures a sense of the trajectory that leads us from Millbank in 2010 to Jeremy Corbyn today’ – Chris Williamson, Labour MP for Derby North.

Matt Myers is a doctoral student at the University of Oxford. A writer and contributor to several publications and journals, he was a participant in the 2010 student movement.