Student Movements in Latin America

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the role that student movements have played in Latin America’s political development. It examines their impact in both the field of education and in broader political reforms. Reviewing student movements along recent Latin American history, the chapter begins with the Córdoba university reform movement and its regional influence. It then depicts the political fate of student movements in the late 1960s when protests spread across the world, and their role during the dictatorships experienced in the region. The chapter also offers an overview of contemporary student movements in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. Under different political circumstances and in the context of both left and right-wing governments, recent student movements in these countries have pushed not only for education reforms but also for the democratization of their countries’ political institutions. Based on this account of past and present-day student movements in Latin America, the chapter argues that they have constituted a space of ideological renewal and resistance to the various sociopolitical and economic inequalities that historically have characterized the region. Hence, understanding the political dynamics in Latin America also requires an examination of this important social actor.