It was only a few days ago that I was reading this article on Nationalism vs. Marxism, and I take note about the ideological differences on the importance of the nation-state in comparison to the labor movement between Lenin and Luxembourg (Lenin favored consolidating the nation-state as a temporary stop-gap on the road to consolidating an international labor movement, while Luxembourg dismissed the nation-state as an artificial feel-good division between laborers; of course, that was a given because she had the worst of times with the social democrats that had come to power in the late 19th century in Germany).
And now I read this. It’s IWW part deux (the AWU in Australia is also in the talks).
So the labor movement is being globalized to counter the popularity of multinational corporations.
That makes me wonder, though: if that is about to happen (again) with mergers of worker’s unions across borders, will or can the same thing happen to student unionism?
I mean, at the time of writing, you only have a few examples of multinational collegiate institutions. Most are run by corporations and are privately-run (I think).
But if the ability to run a multinational university system was improved or streamlined in the future, will there also be a movement to merge students’ unions (or, as we know them here in the U.S., associated student bodies/governments/assemblies) across university campuses or even countries to keep up with the enlargement of collegiate institutions?
And if so, what would the ideal demands of such unions or associations of students constitute?
Well, if you take into account the rise of web-based e-learning through online classes offered by the rising institutions, such as DeVry and ITT, I think that one of the main demands by the student unions would be for the building of less-isolatory or less-sequestering facilities, such as “online campuses” (or offline, if you prefer), for the students from various countries. They can also, theoretically, protest staff policies and negotiate solutions that are conciliatory to the interests of the students; plus, as with the fraternities, sororities and professional student’s organizations that are already present at the colleges, student unions can provide newcomer students with a basic overview of what goes on in student life and provide go-to’s for the newcomer students in case they may face adjustment issues with the campus.
The student unions could easily become politicized, however, as has happened in, say, Australia. Plus, they could raise the ire of those who are opposed to stuff like mandatory fees for all students on a campus; finally, they could be divided by university or sub-university loyalties, or come into conflict with other established student-oriented bodies within the university.
But yah, this is just an idea about a likely situation that may or may not have many or any fans, given the poor reputation of trade unions (especially teachers’ unions) in recent history.
