Millbank tendency: the strengths and limitations of mediated protest ‘events’ in UK student activism cycles

UK students’ desire to create disruptive, media-friendly ‘events’ during the 2010-11 protests against fees and cuts is reflective of wider cycles and processes in student activism history. First, constant cohort turnover restricts students’ ability to convert campaigns into durable movements, necessitating that they must periodically ‘start from scratch’. This informs a second process, namely the need to gain the attention of mainstream media, as this can potentially amplify students’ grievances far beyond their own organisational capacities. Both have shaped student activism over the past fifty years, compelling contemporary students to create protest events that live up to their radical history. These processes were evident in autumn 2010, when an NUS demonstration saw students attack and briefly occupy Conservative Party headquarters at 30 Millbank. The protest’s mass mediation was central to activists’ ‘eventing’ processes, and provided the spark for the radical UK-wide campaign that followed. Yet once the fees bill was passed by Parliament, students’ dependency on mainstream media cycles was quickly exposed. With ‘mediatization’ tendencies having dogged student activism since the sixties, this article argues that creating ‘events’ epitomises students’ longstanding strengths and limitations as society’s ‘incipient intelligentsia’ (Rootes, 1980: 475)

Crisis en la Zona Euro: Perspectiva de un impago en la periferia y la salida de la moneda única común’

El endeudamiento de España, Portugal y Grecia ha crecido en los últimos años debido principalmente a un sector privado que, incapaz de competir con éxito dentro de la zona euro, ha acumulado deuda tanto interna como externa. La deuda total - tanto pública como privada - plantea problemas graves para los bancos de los países del centro de la zona euro, que se enfrentan también a problemas de liquidez debido a la financiación de activos en dólares mediante pasivos en euros. Las políticas adoptadas por la UE pretenden rescatar a los bancos al tiempo que facilitan el endeudamiento de los Estados. Sin embargo, un simple análisis de la demanda agregada muestra que la austeridad que suponen tales medidas probablemente conduzca a la recesión. En este contexto, el presente documento analiza la opción del impago y la salida de la moneda común para los países periféricos. Esta estrategia ofrece la posibilidad de un crecimiento más fuerte y más equitativo, pero sólo si se lleva a cabo a iniciativa del prestatario. Adicionalmente, debería ir acompañada de un programa de reformas que invirtiera la orientación neoliberal de la política actual. The indebtedness of Spain, Portugal and Greece has grown in recent years primarily because of the private sector. Unable to compete successfully within the Eurozone, the private sector of peripheral countries has accumulated domestic and foreign debt. Aggregate debt – both public and private - poses severe problems for the banks of core countries, which also face liquidity problems because of funding dollar assets with euro liabilities. The policies adopted by the EU aim at rescuing banks, while facilitating the borrowing of peripheral states. However, a simple analysis of aggregate demand shows that the ensuing austerity is likely to lead to recession. In this light, the paper discusses the option of default and exit from the Eurozone for peripheral countries. This strategy offers the prospect of stronger and more equitable growth, but only if it takes place at the initiative of the borrower. It must also be accompanied by a programme of reforms that reverses the neoliberal thrust of current policy