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ELÍSIO ESTANQUE Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra - Portugal
Activism or indifference? Social recomposition, gender
differences and student attitudes at the University of Coimbra*
Abstract
Due to the expansion of the higher education system in Portugal, under the influence of increasing market forces, two main tendencies emerged at the University of Coimbra: the broadening basis of class recruitment of the students; and the growing presence of women, which already represent the majority of them. This situation brought new contradictions and challenges to the student’s movement. From this starting point, I will discuss some of the sociological complexities around associative participation, using a survey data on student’s practices and attitudes. The objective is to understand the main paths of the current tendencies in terms of associative participation and civic activism, considering the potentialities and limits of the New Social Movements in Portuguese society. I will analyse the actual conditions of collective action and democratic participation, taking in account the collective identity, rituals and traditions, on the one hand, and practices and subjective attitudes, on the other, trying to show how the diversity of trajectories and social representations of students – about society, the University and the students union leadership – help to understand the relative apathy as well as the new forms of civic participation.
Introduction
As in almost all areas of our social and institutional life, the higher education
system in Portugal has undergone profound changes in recent decades. It is a
subject that has created a great deal of controversy and tension and there are many
diverse and complex ways of approaching it. This paper aims to analyse and question
certain aspects of the changes taking place, supported by a survey of students from
the University of Coimbra1.
* This paper is part of the project in progress Youth Cultures and Civic Participation: difference indifference and new democratic challenges, settled in CES - Centre for Social Studies (http://www.ces.uc.pt/). This project as been funded by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Science and Technological Foundation – Ministry of Science), under the Programme “Sapiens2002”, Ref. POCTI/SOC/45489/2002. It has also been presented at the meeting Alternative Futures and Popular Protests, at the Manchester Metropolitan University (30th March to 1st April, 2005). 1 The survey was administered to Coimbra University students in 1999-2000, using a representative sample from the 8 faculties, stratified by sex, and resulted in 1,887 valid responses. The sample was selected on the basis of groups from different courses and years within the range of courses available. Although most of the questionnaires were administered in the classroom, a number equivalent to one medium-sized class in each faculty was administered to students in an area of the faculty outside the classroom. (See sample characteristics in Appendix 1 at the end).
2
The enormous expansion in the Portuguese university system in recent decades
(particularly since the 1970s)2 is undoubtedly symptomatic of the democratisation of
university education, which has consequently become accessible to students from
working class backgrounds. At the same time, this expansion has given rise to new
contradictions which the higher education system has had to confront. From the
outset, market pressures and demands for applied and economically useful
knowledge have increased. Parallel to this, the problems associated with the social
and cultural responsibilities of the university in producing a critical body capable of
contributing actively towards changing society have become more pressing.
What are the repercussions of this situation on the present social composition of
Coimbra students? What new challenges and problems do these changes bring to
bear on the current young generation? How do students today relate to civic activism
and what are their attitudes towards its forms? What are the main attitudes amongst
students towards social life? How can their involvement in associations be
characterised? What differences may be detected between boys and girls? Are
students' life plans orientated more towards individualism or collective concerns
nowadays? These are just some of the questions I aim to address in this paper.
1. Context
The process of apparent university democratisation in Portugal has been largely
subverted by market pressures. The democratic bid to make higher education more
accessible, particularly along the 1980s, had not been subjected to any prior planning
or studies of the strategic development of the university system. The interaction either
with the other higher education sub-systems or with demographic trends in the
student population were not previously discussed. The pressures of demand, faced
with a system of numerus clausus that left tens of thousands of candidates behind
annually at the university gates, obliged the government of the time to find a political
2 With the creation of many new public and private institutes and universities (which, including the polytechnics, now amount to around 300 establishments) there has been a dramatic rise in the number of students entering university higher education. From around 50,000 at the beginning of the 1970s, (52,883 in 1975/76, cf. A. Barreto, 1996: 93), the number of students in higher education has risen to 388,724 (data for 2003, MCES), almost 100 thousand of whom are in private education. The number of degree courses (in the public universities alone) is currently 470. In addition, women, representing over 60% of the total, have largely come to outnumber men in the Portuguese universities.
3
answer. On the one hand, it was necessary to sooth student discontent with an
applications system that, at the time, left around half the candidates without a
university place. On the other hand, the centre-right government also took advantage
of the situation to satisfy the private lobby in the higher education market. This
process, within the framework of the recomposition taking place in the job market and
the policies for financing higher education according to the number of students per
school, favoured increased deregulation and a logic of “massification” which
contributed towards a gradual decline in the quality and efficiency of higher education
and in the universities themselves.
Within this context, the case of the University of Coimbra (UC) is of particular
interest. Once the only university in the country and the place where, for seven
centuries, the cultural, political and administrative elites were educated, the UC found
itself obliged to respond and adjust to these changes. As the university with the
longest-standing tradition, that had always prided itself on its elitist status and had for
centuries been celebrated in literature and traditional songs (the so called Coimbra’s
fado), respected and “revered” by various governments, regimes and institutions, it
found itself about to be overtaken by other newer institutions that were apparently
better prepared to respond to the new demands of competitiveness and job market.
On a national level, its sphere of influence began to show signs of weakening, some
courses began to attract fewer students and its former leading role was tarnished.
A brief historical note is necessary here. Representing over 700 years of history,
the University of Coimbra was, until 1911, the only university in the country. The
student identity associated with this long tradition was forged largely through
countless – official and student – academic rituals characterised by their festive and
irreverent atmosphere, the praxe (set of student traditions and initiation rites), the
República movement (communal student households animated by a culture of
rebellion and intellectual creativity) and also by the various protest actions and
campaigns that had become a common feature of university life since the 19th.
century. In the 1960s, in particular, the UC became the focus for a number of intense
student protests which, as they took place under a political regime with fascist
characteristics (the Salazar regime, in force in Portugal between 1926 and 1974),
4
played an important part in weakening the system and mobilised not only students
and citizens but also democratic public opinion and opposition to Salazarism. These
student campaigns took place in a very difficult political climate and also at a time
when universities in Portugal were extremely elitist, and the UC united students from
all over the country. The student culture at the time influenced city life and was the
inspiration behind basic cultural and association activities. The pro-democracy
movement in the university, which opposed the regime and the colonial war, reached
its peak in 1969 when the students boycotted an official ceremony in the presence of
the Minister of Education and the President of the Republic of the time, Américo
Tomás. The Students´ Union (the AAC – Associação Académica de Coimbra) and
the Repúblicas were the main organisers of the student movement of the time and
were able to mobilise large numbers of students. Heavy political repression followed
in the wake of these campaigns and many students were imprisoned, whilst others
were expelled from the university or forced into military service and sent to fight in the
colonial war in Africa (in Angola, Mozambique and Guiné-Bissau).
In more recent decades, under a democratic regime, students have obviously
continued to take part in protests and student union campaigns. From the mid 1990s
until recently the main protests were organised under the banner of the campaign
against fee increases. Ten years ago the anti-fees movement had some impact, but
its political weight has begun to decline, mainly as society and public opinion have
increasingly begun to question the reasons behind the protests. In fact, faced with a
university system in which students in the private sector had been paying very high
fees for a long time (around 300 euros per month at the moment), many people
considered that the demands to keep public higher education free (at least until 1997,
when fees of around 300 euros per year were first charged) were unfair. In the last
two years, the public universities have started to charge around 850 euros per year
and the student movement has invoked constitutional law which states that the right
to higher education is “essentially free”. However, student involvement in the cause
has weakened and is limited to the active participation of just a few hundred students
out of a student population which currently stands at around 30 thousand in Coimbra
(including the University, the Polytechnic and the private institutions). Parallel to this,
5
the political content of the student cause has been losing its impact and the mass of
students are noticeably distancing themselves from the governing bodies, despite the
decentralisation of the base structures through the creation of nuclei in each faculty.
On the other hand, the student festivals and rituals continue to absorb the attention of
the majority of UC students, although the initiation rites and traditions (praxe) to which
first year students are submitted have come in for increasing criticism due to the
element of violence involved (there are sometimes complaints of aggressive or
humiliating behaviour) and the festivals, such as the Queima das Fitas (finalist
celebrations) or the Latada (first year celebrations) seem to be run on market and
consumer principles in which the students' aim is to go wild, seeking out excitement
and alcoholic consumption, escape and evasion whilst remaining increasingly
indifferent to any involvement in cultural initiatives or projects with critical substance.
It is in the light of these changing trends that I aim to characterise the social
background of the current students and understand their subjective practices and
attitudes towards the University and civil and student union activism.
2. Geographical origins
The phenomenon of the regionalisation of the universities, by creating an
extraordinary increase in higher education opportunities (both public and private,
university and polytechnic) has also created a logic of territorial distribution that has
led to a spread of specific areas where young students are established, thus
producing a “localised” effect. The results therefore show a large concentration of
students from the Central Region and in particular from the municipality (22%) and
district (34.8%) of Coimbra. The student population from the Central Region is 63%.
However, 31.7% do come from other regions and over 5% are foreigners. This has
implications for class recomposition in relation to the families of the students, since
spatial distribution and the urban-rural dichotomy reflect important social divisions.
6
TABLE 1 - Geographical origins, by area of studies
FAMILY RESIDENCE ORIGINS (%)
AREAS OF STUDY COIMBRA
CITY
REST OF
COIMBRA
DISTRICT
REST OF
CENTRAL
REGION
TOTAL
CENTRAL
REGION
REST OF THE
COUNTRY
OTHER
COUNTRIES
LETTERS AND ARTS 19.9 13.0 36.0 68.9 26.1 5.0 LAW 19.2 5.1 25.0 49.3 41.7 8.9 ECONOMICS & MANAGEM. 35.1 20.9 21.3 77.3 15.9 6.7 SOCIAL SCIENCES 15.1 12.3 26.9 54.3 39.6 6.1 NATURAL SC./ MATHEMAT. 19.8 16.5 25.6 61.9 37.2 0.8 MEDICAL SCIENCE 19.5 7.5 29.9 56.9 38.1 5.0 ENGINEERING 32.5 16.0 29.1 77.6 18.6 3.8 SPORTS SCIENCE 16.4 12.1 30.2 58.7 38.8 2.6
TOTALS (N) 22.0 (412) 12.8 (240) 28.2(528) 63.0 (1180) 31.7 (594) 5.2(58)
3. Class origins
By comparing class structures3 in the country with the class origins of the UC
students, it can be seen that in the country as a whole the upper class (employers
and managers) represents 13.6% of the working population, whereas students from
this class at the UC total 26.5%, meaning that this class is over-represented in the
university student population. The petty bourgeoisie (self employed) represents
around 14% of the nationwide sample and 12% in terms of the social origins of UC
students. The middle class (supervisors and skilled workers together) represents
41.1% across the country, but corresponds to 28.1% of the students. The unskilled
working class is represented by the same percentages in both the nationwide sample
(31.2%) and the class origins of the student population (33.1%).
Even though these results clearly indicate that the system has become more
accessible, they cannot be considered a direct reflection of rising social mobility. The
profound structural changes that have taken place in Portugal in recent decades
prevent such a linear interpretation. Firstly, this data refers only to the university
population (those who have already entered university) and so cannot include the
influence of the “class” variable on those excluded from the system (in Portugal only
9% of the population aged between 25 and 64 possessed a higher education
qualification in 2002, whilst the average figure for OECD countries was 16%).
3 For the class typology construction I used Erik Olin Wright model (Wright, 1985), but here some of the class categories were aggregate. However, one needs to remind that propriety, authority and skills were the main resources used to build up this class framework.
7
TABLE 2. Class origins of students and the national class structure (%)
CLASS ORIGINS OF
STUDENTS* NATIONAL CLASS
STRUCTURE ** EMPLOYERS 18.9 9.3 SELF EMPLOYED WORKERS 12.0 13.8 MANAGERS 7.6 4.6 SUPERVISORS 14.7 14.4 TECHNICIANS / SKILLED WORKERS 13.7 26.7 NON-SKILLED WORKERS 33.1 31.2 TOTAL (N) 100 (1499) 100 (1144) * Survey to UC students (1999-2000). ** Survey to Social Attitudes of the Portuguese (ISSP, 1999).
Undoubtedly the young people excluded from access to higher education
come, on the whole, from lower class backgrounds or, in other words, the roughly
33% of UC students from working class families represent only a fraction of the entire
group of young people who come from that class, whilst the children of the
“employers” and “managers” or the “upper class” in general, although they represent
a small section of today's students, may form part of a segment of young people who
– although they are a minority in society and in the university population – in general
easily gain access to higher education.
Secondly, there has been a profound restructuring of professions, sectors of
activity and the employment market in Portugal, so that the concept of “social
mobility” is problematic. Within the space of roughly twenty years, the agricultural
sector has shrunk drastically whilst the tertiary sector has shot up by more than 50%,
so that it is important not to confuse professional reconversion with new opportunities
or “upward mobility” processes. A strong measure of recomposition and flexibility
within the employment market has led to a loss of prestige or security or even the
“proletarianisation” of certain professional categories whose members are highly
educated.
Thirdly, it is known that the question of education and its continuing expansion
in advanced societies has led to school qualifications becoming devalued. Thus, in
order to maintain a privileged position in the social structure it is necessary to
monopolise the higher academic qualifications that are more difficult to obtain (such
as Masters degrees and PhDs). This means that the high level of absolute and
structural mobility that takes place in rapidly changing societies often equates with
8
maintaining unequal opportunities, both at work and in the acquisition of the rarer
qualifications (Cabral, 1997; Grácio, 1994 and 1997; Estanque, 2000).
4. Gender differences
It is known that girls form a majority in the current student population, given
that they represent over 60% of the total. If we transpose student class origins onto
distribution by sex, we can observe (see Graphic 1, below) an identical number of
boys and girls in the various social strata, except that there is a clear majority of girls
from the working class (34.5%, compared with 28.9% of boys). This is an important
element to take into consideration when characterising the changes that are taking
place and trends in the recomposition of students in higher education in Portugal,
particularly with regard to their distribution according to sex. It is known that women in
general are more successful academically than men at all levels of education (Grácio,
1997; Seixas, 2002; Balsa et al., 2001). However, if this explains, to a certain extent,
the growing female presence in university education, we believe that factors specific
to Portuguese society are also involved and need to be explained.
Graphic 1. Class origins, by gender
Class origin
Non-skilled workers
Skilled workers
Supervisors
Managers
Self-employed
Employers
Per
cent
30
20
10
0
Gender
Females
Males
For sociocultural reasons, boys tend to begin their working life earlier than girls
(not forgetting the fact that in the less well-off classes this pressure is greater) and,
9
given that girls tend to get better results in secondary school, it is only to be expected
that this, combined with a lack of economic resources and the existence of children of
different sexes, means that amongst working class children, the “choice” for higher
education tend to fall on the girl. However, the greater success and greater presence
of girls in higher education is far from reflecting equivalent opportunities for women in
the employment market. The sexual division of labour and fixed gender roles in
domestic life are still strongly present in Portuguese society, and the effects of
patriarchy can be seen in the limited access to positions of authority and leadership
available to the female workforce.
5. Values and subjective attitudes
The results for values show the importance attributed by students to (in
descending order) the family, affective life and career. The latter occupies a clearly
defined position, but student concern for the family and their career vary according to
gender.
With regard to this, I would like to emphasise three points. Firstly, both boys and
girls followed the general trend of attributing greatest importance to the family,
followed by affective life and finally career. Secondly the percentages for girls are
higher in all options. Thirdly, comparing relative values, boys attribute more
importance to matters such as sex and leisure activities, which are mentioned far less
frequently by the female student population. Although not mentioned often by the
students, these activities should not be disregarded, since it is well known that leisure
and consumer practices, with all the bars, parties, discotheques etc. in the city of
Coimbra are mainly animated by the student youth (Fernandes et al., 1998; Lopes,
2001).
Another aspect worth mentioning, given its significance in Coimbra, is the
student festivals. In addition to the Queima das Fitas (finalists) parade (and, more
precisely, their presence on top of the decorated floats), which is the most important
part of the academic rituals for both boys and girls, activities such as the Gala Ball,
the blessing of the pastas (student files) and the wearing of the academic gown are
particularly important to the female sex, whilst the concerts in the park, the Latada
10
(first year) procession, the garraiada (bull run) and even the first year initiation rites
(praxe) are valued more by boys (Estanque, 2005).
6. Orientations, association membership and activism
The analysis of orientations and subjective attitudes once again needs to be
placed within the broader context of the sociocultural situation being studied. Whilst it
is true that the UC has always been closely associated with the emergence of new
values and student movements (even when these were violently repressed), in the
light of the huge increase in the student body and career pressures (a refection of the
increased influence of neoliberal principles on the economy and on society), it is
important to determine to what extent the struggle to find employment and the
concerns for the family that have just been demonstrated might inhibit young students
from becoming involved in student union affairs and in civil and political activism.
The approach used here towards orientations in social and personal life makes
use of a typology that has been used before in studies on student attitudes
(Machado, et al., 1990 and 2003). It involves a scale of attitudes from which
respondents choose one option out of four possible models of orientation presented
to them4 which are: a model emphasising everyday and individual interests (the self-
centred everyday); a model which emphasises everyday affairs together with an
involvement in social and collective affairs (the socio-centred everyday); a model that
focuses on a future project in which individual interests prevail (the self-centred plan);
and a model which focuses on a future project in which an involvement in society and
collective interests prevail (the socio-centred plan).
The results reveal some interesting findings (see Graphic, below). Firstly, socio-
centred orientations prevail over self-centred ones, secondly, the self-centred plan is
more marked amongst students than the self-centred everyday and thirdly, when both
sexes are compared, the orientations of the girls are more openly socio-centred than
those of the boys.
At first, this data seems partly to contradict certain well-known diagnoses of the
individualism, indifference and empty values of present-day youth, even though the 4 The typology was designed on the basis of responses to specific questions which intersect the 4 sets of values along 2 axes: collectivism/ individualism and everyday/medium-term plans.
11
responses associated with hedonism and socialising are very significant (Lipovetsky,
1989). When the results are viewed in terms of the different courses it can be seen,
firstly, that the percentage distribution remains very regular or, in other words, there is
very little significant variation in relation to the different areas of study (see Table 3).
Graphic 2. Attitudes about social life, by gender
Attitude towards life
socio-centr everyd
self-centr plan
socio-centr plan
self-centr everyd
Per
cent
40
30
20
10
0
Gender
Females
Males
TABLE 3. Life course representations, by area of studies (%)
AREAS OF STUDIES
SELF-CENTRED EVERYDAY
SOCIO-CENTRED PLAN
SELF-CENTRED PLAN
SOCIO-CENTRED EVERYDAY
LETTERS AND ARTS 9.2 33.8 18.1 38.8
LAW 5.9 34.0 27.5 32.7 ECONOMICS & MANAGEM. 9.7 25.0 36.0 29.2 SOCIAL SCIENCES 7.1 33.9 20.6 38.4
NATURAL SC./ MATHEMAT. 11.0 34.7 20.3 33.9 MEDICAL SCIENCE 8.3 38.5 24.5 28.7 ENGINEERING 15.3 28.4 26.6 29.7 SPORTS SCIENCE 12.3 29.8 28.1 29.8 TOTALS (N) 9.4 (174) 32.7 (603) 24.7 (455) 33.3 (614)
The relative balance between the two models that feature most strongly in the
perceptions of the respondents (socio-centred everyday/socio-centred plan) is one of
the most salient points. In this respect, the departments which differ most are, firstly,
Letters and Social Sciences, in which the socio-centred everyday model features
more strongly and, secondly, Medical Science, followed by Natural
12
Sciences/Mathematics and Law in which the socio-centred plan features more
strongly. Economics and Management Science emerge as the areas in which,
contrary to the dominant trend, the self-centred plan is more predominant and the
socio-centred plan features least and there is also less interest in the socio-centred
everyday. Medical Science (38.5%), Natural Science (34.7%) and Law (34%) seem to
be the departments which show a greater identification with life plans governed by
social concerns5.
TABLE 4. Students participation in Union activities, by area of studies (%)
PERCENT OF PARTICIPATION FACULTY GROUPS AAC ACTIVITIES
AREAS HIGH SOME LOW ANY HIGH SOME LOW ANY
LETTERS & ARTS 3.5 3.1 21.0 72.4 4.0 1.2 13.1 81.7 LAW 0.6 7.7 14.7 76.9 1.3 1.3 8.1 89.3 ECONOMICS & MANAGEM. 4.8 6.7 19.0 69.4 0.4 4.5 8.2 86.9 SOCIAL SCIENCES 4.4 10.6 20.7 64.3 3.6 3.8 14.3 78.4 NATURAL SC./ MATHEMAT. 5.9 5.1 15.3 73.7 1.7 5.2 8.6 83.6 MEDICAL SCIENCES 3.1 7.0 23.6 66.3 1.1 3.7 13.2 81.9 ENGINEERING 4.7 6.0 23.8 65.5 5.1 4.7 14.5 75.6 SPORTS 5.3 15.0 32.7 46.9 4.4 20.2 15.8 59.6
TOTALS (N) 4.0 7.7 21.3 67.0 2.8 4.5 12.5 80.2
Attitudes towards society may also be related to the results for association
activities and experiences. It is already known that, in general, the tendency to
become involved in civil and political issues has diminished. However, recent
research has detected signs of stability in association and political activities, leading
us to believe that, beside maintaining significant levels of association membership in
the country (34% in 1990, moving to 25.6% in 1999), post-materialist values have
been consolidated within the context of the EU and in Portugal itself, although we are
still far from attaining the European average in this area (Delicado, 2003: 232-241).
Let us see the student’s Union affiliation data at the UC. In the case of Coimbra,
it is worth relating these results to collective and individual trajectories and
5 Transposing these results onto the students' class origins does not provide any proof of the capacity of the variable "class origins" to explain these orientations. The models which feature most strongly (the socio-centred everyday and the socio-centred plan) are still relatively uniformly distributed amongst UC students and do not reveal any particular associations with the students' class backgrounds.
13
experiences. It should be recalled that, for example, membership of the Associação
Académica (AAC) is simply a bureaucratic process, since students are automatically
enrolled when they matriculate. It may therefore be said that “the largest student
union in the country” is not necessarily the one that has the most active members6. In
recent years the number of voters in elections for Student Union leadership, has
wavered between 15% and 23% and attendance at meetings and assemblies reveals
how difficult it is, in general, to mobilise the student body, which is also the case with
associations in general. An analysis of these figures emphasises, firstly, the low level
of student participation, either in relation to the faculty nuclei and the autonomous
student structures, or in relation to the various AAC organs.
TABLE 5. Perceptions of solidarity and competitiveness among colleagues
FACULTIES (%s in column)
Letters Law Econom Medic Engen Pharm Psicol Sports Total
GENERAL SOLIDARITY 34.4 15.5 33.7 17.4 46.7 36.1 29.2 64.0 35.2
SELECTIVE SUPPORT 45.1 45.8 44.3 53.0 37.2 41.0 47.5 22.8 42.6
PARTIAL COMPETITIV. 9.5 20.6 9.9 14.8 8.4 11.4 15.8 7.0 11.6
GENERAL COMPETITIV. 4.0 14.2 3.4 8.7 2.1 1.2 3.3 4.4 4.4
TOTAL (N) 326 155 323 149 379 166 240 114 1852
This is the most visible general trend, with the lack of participation much more
evident in the latter. In terms of distribution by course, it can be seen that
departments such as Sports Science (20.3%) and Social Sciences (15%),
nevertheless, indicate less indifference (if we add together “a lot” and “some”
participation) to the nuclei and the autonomous structures, whereas in the case of
participation in the governing bodies of the AAC only Sports Science stands out, with
a 24.6% participation rate (using the same criteria of adding together “a lot” and
“some” participation). In my view, this data is a little disturbing, given the general
trend towards indifference which emerges. Possibly career pressures are so strong
nowadays and the cultural and identity bonds with the city have diminished in such a 6 Because, in the case of the UC, the Student’s Union is the only one representing all faculties (differently from what happen in Lisbon or Oporto, where the organizing structures are dispersed among faculties and there are one federation of Unions) this offers more visibility to the leaders which always like to refer the large number of their affiliating basis.
14
way that they have prevented or seriously weakened the structuring of a strong
student identity. The memory of former struggles and student movements – in the
19th. century as well as the 1960s – show signs of becoming lost in history and
weakening in the light of the ritual demonstrations of the present day (Bebiano,
2003). Involvement in associations is low, regardless of the criteria used to evaluate
it, showing that the UC has lost part of its ability to identify with and mobilise students
for civil intervention.
Conclusions
As I have demonstrated, the results of the survey indicate a low level of student
participation in association activities and also in Student Union (AAC) elections. This
situation is undoubtedly an expression of the more general trends in Western
democracy, which show an increasing separation between citizens and political
action.
It is important to bear in mind that the traditional forms of public intervention and
modes of political activism that existed throughout the second half of the 20th. century
have changed profoundly. On the one hand we have seen the emergence of a whole
set of new dynamics and forms of social and territorial mobility, the intensification of
all forms of global flow, the increased presence of new information technologies, a
rise in urban concentrations etc., which have led to dramatic changes in the ways in
which we live in society and to much more individualised social relations. In addition,
after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet empire, the ideologies that had, for over
a century, galvanised the major social movements to collective action inspired by
utopian emancipatory models began to decline overall.
The powerful popular movements that existed in a very radical political and
ideological context in Portugal in the 1970s achieved high levels of participation, but
this was soon exhausted and a lack of interest in public affairs increased as the
democratic regime stabilised. Nowadays this democracy has been consolidated and
has brought new opportunities and enabled the working class to have access to
lifestyles and consumer habits that are close to those of the middle class, even
though the economic and social situation in the country still reveals many problems
15
associated with development and social inequality. Today's young people have grown
up and been educated in this context. University life now functions according to
democratic principles and students are represented on all its governing bodies.
Although in times of greater student involvement and activism the government and
the Ministry of Education were targeted as the main adversaries, the fact is that it is
not always easy to identify adversaries. In the present-day scenario, it has become
difficult to appoint any “enemy” capable of arousing a mass protest on the part of the
students.
It is a fact that activism has always been the prerogative of the minority and
therefore, apart from exceptional and revolutionary situations, it is mainly the
“vanguard” that is active and prepares the way for collective action. Yet, although the
old utopias have been abandoned, it is impossible now to claim any vanguard
potential for the most radical groups of students when they have not reinvented any
new utopias to attract young people. Within the context of university expansion and
when the paths to rebellion are so poorly-defined, the few centres of radicalism that
do exist are threatened by isolation.
In the case of the University of Coimbra, the processes of massification, the
routines of student life and the increased female presence have changed the
atmosphere in the city and there are, in fact, very few focal points for developing
alternative social groups. Firstly, most students (who, as I have demonstrated, come
from the Central region) either live with their parents or else visit their families every
week, often leaving on Fridays and returning on Mondays. To a certain extent this
reduces the opportunities to reinforce group identities and promote intellectual and
association activities. Secondly, this regular exodus from the city is also associated
with the larger numbers of students from working class backgrounds and young
women. They are subjected to greater family pressures to finish their courses as
quickly as possible with a view to rapidly securing a place in the job market. In
addition, as we have seen from the survey, the family and career prospects are the
main concerns voiced by students, and girls (whom it should be remembered form
the majority of working class students) reveal the strongest bonds of all with the
family. Thirdly, the phenomenon of the increased female presence has clashed
16
significantly with the student culture in Coimbra, given that the academic tradition is
very male-orientated. The celebratory rituals, processions, the praxe horseplay, even
the actual songs associated with the symbolism of the University are all imbibed with
patriarchal values and attitudes, in which a certain element of “marialvismo”
(aristocratic machismo) still persists. In some cases (symbolic or physical) violence
and in other cases sexist behaviour have tended to relegate girls to second place.
Women are not even allowed to sing the Coimbra fados. The student union leaders
and activists in general are mainly boys. Some actions aimed at criticising the student
praxe and traditions have been initiated by groups of young women who have
denounced this situation.
These factors as a whole have contributed towards limiting the development of a
public arena for ongoing debate, focussing on a spirit of criticism and intellectual (and
academic) reflection. The governing body of the UC itself has neglected to promote
and lead structures, areas and initiatives that stimulate activism and student
participation at all levels of academic and city life. However I do not wish to end on
this pessimistic note, nor would it represent a true portrait of student life.
As the results of the survey also show, the majority of students reveal clear
inclinations towards collective involvement. In relation to this, it should be noted that
girls are distinguished by their greater interest in social matters, whilst boys
participate more in student associations. Whatever the case, the data shows that the
majority of students place more importance on the social rather than the individual
side of life, with most responses indicating a "socio-centred" orientation, both towards
everyday life and future plans. This may be seen as a positive indication in favour of
participation in public life. In addition, in the latest elections for AAC officers (which
took place whilst this paper was being written), the level of participation increased in
comparison with previous years, with around 35% of students voting.
Other aspects worth noting are related to the way in which, in the present socio-
political climate, involvement in public issues is taking place. The interventions of the
student union leaders have begun to display an increasing concern with
decentralisation and there is now a collection of faculty structures (course nuclei) that
promote a variety of both civic and academic initiatives, including debating sessions,
17
informal discussion groups, an interest in studying the university itself as a
sociological phenomenon, regular publications of faculty newspapers and sometimes
cultural events. Alongside this, the organs of the AAC have promoted a wide variety
of cultural and civic activities, ranging from cinema and theatre to the running of a
radio station and a quality newspaper and various sporting and cultural events. At this
moment, various programmes have been announced that are aimed at raising
awareness of social problems, poverty and inequality and promoting solidarity. Even
though the leaders are sometimes accused of political opportunism (since the
reputations forged by the main leaders later help them to get prime jobs and
institutional positions), the way in which they use the media and set their agendas
accordingly reveals an effort to adapt to modern public life that very often reaps
favourable rewards for students and can affect the wider public debate.
The «Repúblicas», where students live collectively, are microcosms governed
by the management of shared responsibilities and the promotion of individual
initiatives, thus becoming important focuses for political and cultural experiences.
Through the collective sharing of everyday problems, the defence of individual
autonomy and even their critical intervention and denunciation of tradition, these
households become centres for rebellion which may, in the long term, play a decisive
role in revitalising the student movement as a whole. Some of the most radical
activists behind the recent protests live in these communities. Although they are
isolated to some extent from the student body, their potential critical attitude is
significant and their role may become even more important if they are able to create a
dialogue with the other student structures and overcome their image as the “bad
students” in the community.
The new social movements and student activism are phenomena that have
remained closely linked – particularly since May '68 in France. The social, cultural
and political effects of the experiences of the 1960s have been felt directly and
indirectly all over the world in recent decades. It is important to realise that the
profound changes that have taken place during this time are not unconnected with
this revolutionary phase. It is also important to look back on these past events with a
view to understanding their complexity and their dialectical relationship with present-
18
day affairs, rather than simply with nostalgia. It is necessary, on the one hand, to
reinterpret, without longing for their return, the historical experiences of the past from
the perspective of the present and also to understand the present better through
these new interpretations of the past.
Nevertheless, the challenges of the present day create new dilemmas,
complexities and potential for action for student generations at the beginning of the
21st. century. In the established democracies, at least, involvement and activism no
longer operate according to the same paradigms of the classic modes of intervention.
Collective action has become fragmented and we are nowadays witnessing the
emergence of new forms of action and new ways of influencing institutional decision-
making and developing democracy. It may be true that many thousands of young
people from the present generation keep away from politics and involvement in
associations, but even so individualism does not seem to be the general option.
Possibly the fact that we are still used to evaluating politics according the old models
prevents us from appreciating the effects of the remarkable volume of information
exchanged every day on a global scale between countries and continents. The effect
of the “cyber communities” and www networks in public life are less tangible than the
collective struggles of the past. But there is no evidence to suggest that their impact
is no significant. In a less certain world societies are continually “denationalising”
themselves and transferring part of their sovereignty and regulatory mechanisms to
the wide world scale. Aside the global market and hegemonic powers strengthening,
we should expected that the counter-hegemonic activities and movements also can
reinforce the pressure on those powers.
Networks and forms of mobilisation are much more fluid and unstable
nowadays. The old political causes that were aimed at a far-off future have been
replaced by immediate action with media coverage on TV yet, alongside this
showmanship, alliances and underground forms of communication, solidarity and
denunciation follow their own course, supported by other forms of technology (the
internet, mobile phones). Collective struggle is nowadays based more on a desire for
recognition and a need to affirm identity. Public initiatives, performances without a
cause, mass mobs, the search for collective action, etc., reveal a potential critical
19
attitude that may yet revert to political expression. However the current leaders –
particularly if we think of youth movements, the WSF / World Social Forum or the
“alter-globalisation” movements – sometimes seem to prefer a kind of cat-and-mouse
game (like playground "tag") or, in other words, a guerrilla warfare that is far removed
from the official political arenas of the main party or institutional leaders. And youth,
or at least its more rebellious activisms, seems to be investing in these new forms of
expression, and in the small associations or micro-movements. Whilst it cannot be
expected that this will rebound in huge mass movements, nevertheless new ideas,
new pathways to change and a critical political attitude have always been set in
motion by the minority.
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21
ATTACHED 1. Sample
FACULTIES N % total Females Males
Law School 157 8.3 80.3 19.7
Economics 332 17.6 69.0 31.0
Science & Engineering 382 20.2 40.1 59.9
Letters & Literature 334 17.7 73.9 26.1
Medical Science 152 8.1 69.1 30.9
Pharmacy 169 9.0 71.6 28.4
Psychology & Education Science 245 13.0 86.9 13.1
Sports Science 116 6.1 27.8 72.2
Totals (N) 1887 100 65.0 35,0
Source: Survey of UC students, 1999-2000
ATTACHED 2. Education degrees of student’s families, by geogr. origins (%)
SCHOOL DEGREES OF THE FAMILIES (% BY AREA OF RESIDENCE) AREA OF RESIDENCE PRIMARY SCHOOL
1ST LEVEL BASIC SCHOOL
3RD LEVEL SECONDARY
SCHOOL FREQ OF COLLEGE
FATHER MOTHER FATHER MOTHER FATHER MOTHER FATHER MOTHER
COIMBRA CITY 21.2 24.2 15.7 14.0 19.6 15.8 43.5 46.0 REST OF COIMBRA DISTR 52.8 50.6 19.0 23.9 15.1 7.8 13.1 17.6
REST OF CENTRAL REG
RREGREGION 45.0 42.9 16.6 17.2 18.0 13.5 20.3 26.4
OTHER REG OF COUNTR 38.3 39.5 25.0 22.1 17.1 14.0 19.6 24.4
PORT SPEAK C. AFRICA 27.4 37.1 17.7 19.4 9.7 97 45.2 33.9
OTHER COUNTRIES 59.5 59.5 9.5 19.0 14.3 2.4 16.7 19.0
TOTAL 38.4 38.9 19.3 19.0 17.4 13.1 24.9 28.9
Source: Survey of UC students, 1999-2000