Razia Iqbal: I teach democracy at Princeton. Student protesters are getting an education like no other- Students across the US are forging bonds in the face of brutal power structures. You might say they’ve already won

 "What’s clear in this international, student-led movement that continues to defy college and state authorities in the face of arrest and expulsion is that it has also energized many academics in support of their students. The American Iraqi novelist and scholar Sinan Antoon, an associate professor at NYU, arrested on 23 April, told me: “Make no mistake, this is a wake-up call for all citizens: the erosion of citizens’ rights, the surveillance state and the violation of academic freedom. The exceptionality of this country is being challenged. The protests are the best thing to have happened in years. I have never been prouder of my students, their morality, their decency, protesting against the killing of children.”"

‘You don’t have to agree with everything or anything they are standing for, but if you believe in democracy, surely you believe in their right to stand for it.’ Photograph: Craig Ruttle/AP

I teach democracy at Princeton. Student protesters are getting an education like no other

Razia Iqbal

 

Students across the US are forging bonds in the face of brutal power structures. You might say they’ve already won

Teaching an undergraduate class on democracy at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs this semester has felt urgent and clarifying. In the classroom, we’ve been looking at backsliding and the slow corrosion of democratic norms in so-called democratic countries. Meanwhile, what’s been happening outside the classroom in more than 120 universities around the US and the world tells us a more ominous story about democracy.

For two weeks, we focused on the United States... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/article/2024/may/04/university-protests-democracy-faculty-princeton

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]