Luescher-Mamashela, Thierry2024-10-152024-10-15https://hdl.handle.net/10566/16300For most of the second half of the twentieth century, Philip Altbach has followed, analysed and theorised student activism in Europe, North America, India and beyond, and become the foremost scholar on the topic. This chapter critically reviews Altbach’s work on student activism (1964 – 2006) and his efforts at developing a comparative theoretical understanding of student activism in terms of its causes, organisation, ideological orientation and outcomes, along with the backgrounds and identity of student activists, the importance of national and institutional contexts and historical conjunctures in the emergence of student activism and in the response of national and university governments to student protest. The chapter takes Altbach’s thinking on student politics and activism and most recent theoretical contributions on changes in European higher education governance and student representation at system and institutional level to consider four questions: Under what conditions does student activism emerge? What are the typical characteristics of student organisations/movements? What are the typical characteristics of student activists? What are the effects of student activism? In so doing, testable propositions for theorising student activism in, and beyond, twentieth century Europe are developed. The paper thereby challenges Altbach’s own assertion that “student activism lacks any overarching theoretical explanation” (1991: 247).enStudent activismuniversity governancestudent politicsstudent engagementHigher educationBook chapter