The University as a Field of Struggle: Student Protests in Tunisia and Egypt (1968-1973)

Abstract

This article examines student protests in Tunisia and Egypt between 1968 and 1973. These include two uprisings in Tunisia and four in Egypt, which functioned more like waves within a single cycle with a beginning and an end. The analysis demonstrates that, from the perspective of social movement theory, these protests are an expression of general political crises, yet almost exclusively student-led. It shows that two issues preoccupied students: the political system and its impact on higher education governance (in both countries), and the national crisis (in Egypt) related to the Israeli occupation of Egyptian territory in the 1967 war, which in turn is connected to another national question (the Palestinian revolution). The analysis indicates that the intensity of the uprisings is linked to the dynamics of universities, between their status as formal institutions of socialization and their potential role as sites for rebellion, that is, as a field of social struggle.