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Keywords

immigrant students, international students, university, student activism, precarity

Document Type

Article in Response to Controversy

Theme

The University in the Crossfire: Quandaries over Neutrality, Moral Responsibility, Corporatization, and the Protection of Free Speech in Difficult Times

Abstract

This article explores social movement experiences of immigrant and international students within the context of escalating political polarization in the United States. While prevailing political rhetoric often divides these two groups, negatively portrays immigrant students, and favors international students who are presumably driven by meritocratic and neoliberal ideologies, both groups share precarious positionalities that become visible through their involvement or lack of involvement in student activism. This review analyzes how federal policies, such as immigration enforcement measures and surveillance practices, combined with university-level restrictions on campus activism, shape these students' experiences with activism. By examining existing literature in political engagement and higher education, it highlights significant differences between these two groups, such as motivations, socioeconomic disparities, and the relatively privileged positions of international students, as well as similarities, including shared fears of deportation, reliance on community and social networks, and nuanced forms of activism. Through these processes, the author argues that research itself should serve as a practice for coalition-building, instead of reinforcing the divisions between students in the two categories. To conclude, the author calls for the need for interconnected, intersectional analyses to bridge the divisively framed groups, immigrant and international students, by constructing bridging narratives and advocating for their joint recognition as authentic civic participants.

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Language

English

Format

application/word.file

Type

Text

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