Resisting Prevent in Higher Education: 10 Years On

Описание: This June marks ten years since the introduction of the revised Prevent strategy to British universities under the Tory - Lib Dem coalition government. Hear from our speakers on how Prevent and marketisation operate as two sides of the same coin that crackdown on dissent, and how students and workers have led successful campaigns in resistance.

Supposedly introduced to prevent ‘extremism’, Prevent has legitimised the targeting of political activism and Muslims on campus, ushering in a climate of surveillance and monitoring. It has turned academics into informants and students into suspects. In the last few weeks we have also seen a crackdown on students expressing solidarity with Palestine in the wake of Israel’s forced expulsions on Sheikh Jarrah, demonstrating the clear motivation behind Prevent.

At the same time, the last decade has seen a sustained attack on Higher Education and the principles of the public university - with increased marketisation and managerialism shifting power in the university ever upward, widening inequalities in access and disenfranchising students and workers from a say in their universities.

In higher education, Prevent and marketisation are two sides of the same coin, clamping down on student-staff solidarity and action. Yet students and workers continue to resist together, rejecting suspicion and building and practicing solidarity that rejects the atomising and stigmatising logics of surveillance and policing, and strengthens the university community.

This event marks a decade of struggles against Prevent and marketisation in higher education, and will offer a space to learn from campaigners on the frontline about how you can join us in working towards the abolition of the Prevent duty.

Speakers:
John Holmwood (Professor at Nottingham University),
Sita Balani (King's Students and Staff Against Prevent), and;
Ilyas Nagdee (Former NUS Black Students' Officer).

This event took place on 15 June 2021 and was organised by: King's Students and Staff Against Surveillance, Preventing Prevent SOAS, LSE Coalition for Educational Autonomy, and Preventing Prevent at Cambridge.