Introduction

The focus in this chapter is on social movements (SMs) instigated by three different and overlapping interest groups, namely, high school and university students, trade unionists and ordinary citizens. The statuses of students, workers and citizens correspond to what Mørch and Stalder see as a triangular process of knowing (student role), doing (worker role) and being (citizen role). Their developmental model shows how these three roles are interconnected rather than separate entities. It is also clear from the interviews quoted in the present book – most of which have been on the experiences of young people – that they see themselves simultaneously as students, part- time workers and tax- paying citizens; for other students, however, the roles can be restrictive or expansive depending on how they are placed at a particular time in their lives.

While each of these groups is, for convenience, discussed separately, they have common interests in so far as their life chances (LCs) are restricted by livelihood concerns. University students who may struggle to meet living expenses or as graduates can be burdened with the financial obligation of repaying tuition fees, often without having gained employment related to their degrees, or worse still, no job at all. Workers may be unemployed, underemployed or locked into jobs where wages have stagnated and as a result are unable to enjoy a reasonable standard of living; these workers would include young men and women unable to buy their own homes or even rent decent and affordable accommodation. And citizens may feel that their problems are ignored by government and so no longer have faith in the political party system.

The movements discussed in the chapter include student movements in 1968 in Paris and elsewhere and the less- intense protests half a century later. Workers’ movements in Australia are discussed in the context of trade union decline and promising new developments in SM unionism and coalition building aimed at improving the power of ordinary workers as ‘the new dangerous class’. The chapter suggests that citizen movements like Occupy Wall Street (OWS) offer the best hope of mobilising citizens to defend their rights against the forces of globalisation, neo- liberalism, opportunity hoarding by the mega rich and financial greed in the public and private sectors.