Date of Award

Spring 5-18-2024

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Advisor(s)

Mohamed Abdel Rahman

Second Advisor

Caley Johnson, Ph.D.

Abstract

Student activism is a central component of many political movements against authoritarian hegemony. This paper focuses on multiple instances of student activism in Egypt and Indonesia over the past fifty years. As such, the following questions are considered: how have the post-colonial systems of government impacted legislation that enforces the limits of free speech and mobilization? How has student activism evolved in the digital age? How have governments responded to the changing digital landscape, and how might their tactics evolve in the future? These questions are considered within the framework of violence and its multiple forms, as Johan Galtung, Nancy Scheper-Hughes, and Philippe Bourgois propose. The post-colonial public sphere of each country is assessed through enacted legislation, as contextualized by Nicholas Onuf's work on center-periphery relations. As such, it is argued that violence enacted by the state in their post-colonial forms is not only an extension of the means of subjugation utilized by colonial forces but also evolved in its approach to student activism in the digital age, which has been censored in a variety of ways. This assessment bears relevance as we encounter ever-evolving media and political landscapes, which are increasingly subject to government intervention

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