With the crisis getting tougher, more and more people are getting up to resist. Strikes are being organized in Spain, protests in Greece, there’s a huge student strike in Canada going on and the power of Putin is still being contested in Russia. Here we offer a very small fraction of news concerning the development of different forms and goals of protest.
Refugee Camp Ter Apel
From the 8th until the 28th of May failed asylum refugees camped outside the asylum center in Ter Apel to protest against their eviction from theNetherlands. This group of asylum seekers was heavily supported by several Occupy groups and the ASB, providing legal advice, tents, water and medicine. In the end they were evicted by the riot police and the sides were fenced off to prevent a renewal of the action. The police offered the asylum refugees housing for a week in exchange for their promise to help them with their eviction. Some of them logically refused and got forced out by police force.
Pop Up University
Do you want to do a second study? Do you want a PhD but there are no paid places? Do you want to continue studying while officially graduated? On the 13th of June the first Pop Up University took place in Amsterdam. During the day several lectures were given on diverse subjects, and those who attended gained BA, MA or PhD titles, dependant on the amount of courses they took. And this all for a tuition fee between 2 and 5 euro per title! Pop Up University is a form of academic activism that wants to point out the consequences of the current austerity policy on education. Check it out at http://popupuniversity.nl/
Student strike in Quebec
While it takes a lot of effort to get 300 students to protest in the Netherlands, there are in Quebec 17.000 students on strike against tuition hikes. The strike started 3 months ago and still lasts while the government is reacting with heavy police repression and a controversial law called Bill 78. This bill includes the illegalization of unannounced gatherings consisting more than 50 people, harsh penalties for teachers and students that advocate continuing the strike and heavy fines for student- and university employer unions that call up to join the strike.
Verontruste VU’ers
At the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam a group that calls itself ‘Verontruste VU’ers’ [English: Disturbed VU’ers] wrote an article in the local university newspaper stating that their university is led by well paid slave drivers with no heart for science and education. They protest against the ‘prepackaging’ of study programs and unnecessary lay offs of university personnel. To strengthen their message, two weeks later a group of around 200 university employees stormed in at a meeting of the executive council (College van Bestuur) and the works council (ondernemingsraad) against the layoff of 450 workers to cut down expenses while at the same time big amounts are spend in prestigious buildings.
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