Protest Activity in the British Student Movement, 1945 to 2011 A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2015 Sarah Louise Webster School of Social Sciences, Sociology Contents Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 2 List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................... 5 Tables .................................................................................................................................................. 5 Figures ................................................................................................................................................. 5 Tables in the Appendices .................................................................................................................... 5 List of Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 8 Declaration .............................................................................................................................................. 9 Copyright Statement ............................................................................................................................. 10 Author ................................................................................................................................................... 11 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 1. Introductory Chapter .................................................................................................... 14 Identifying Gaps in the Student Protest Literature ........................................................................... 17 Aims of Research ............................................................................................................................... 23 Research Design ................................................................................................................................ 23 Timeframe ..................................................................................................................................... 24 Cases ............................................................................................................................................. 25 Research Questions .......................................................................................................................... 26 Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................................................... 26 Definitions and Assumptions ............................................................................................................ 27 A Note on Referencing ...................................................................................................................... 31 Chapter Structure ............................................................................................................................. 33 Chapter 2. Theorising British Student Protest ................................................................................ 37 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 37 Indoctrinating Students and “Reds under the bed” ......................................................................... 38 Outside Agitators .............................................................................................................................. 40 Collective Behaviour Theory ............................................................................................................. 43 Resource Mobilisation Theory (RMT) ............................................................................................... 48 Political Process (PP) Theory ............................................................................................................. 52 New Social Movements .................................................................................................................... 57 Protest Prone Students and Institutions ........................................................................................... 59 Hotbeds of Activism and Abeyance Structures ................................................................................. 64 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 69 Chapter 3. Counting Student Protest .............................................................................................. 70 2 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 70 Choosing the Cases ........................................................................................................................... 71 Methods ............................................................................................................................................ 75 Protest Event Analysis Method ..................................................................................................... 75 Working with Qualitative Protest Data ....................................................................................... 104 Ethical Considerations ..................................................................................................................... 107 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 108 Chapter 4. Continuous Contention: Student Protest Activity beyond the Sixties ........................ 109 Anarchy in the UK - Recognising Collective Action at the University of Manchester and London School of Economics ....................................................................................................................... 111 The Patterns of Protest ............................................................................................................... 111 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 140 Chapter 5. Explaining the Rise and Fall of Student Protest .......................................................... 143 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 143 Explaining Emergence ..................................................................................................................... 145 Student Values and Movement Frames ...................................................................................... 146 Accessing Resources on Campus ................................................................................................ 156 Activist Networks on Campus ..................................................................................................... 160 Seizing Opportunities for Action ................................................................................................. 166 Explaining Decline ........................................................................................................................... 174 Co-opting the Student Movement .............................................................................................. 178 Violence and Victimisation.......................................................................................................... 185 Authority Inaction ....................................................................................................................... 194 Factionalism ................................................................................................................................ 196 Generational Loss........................................................................................................................ 201 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 203 Chapter 6. Maintaining Protest on Campus ................................................................................. 206 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 206 Abeyance Structures ....................................................................................................................... 208 Hotbeds of Activism ........................................................................................................................ 217 Examining the role of the Forties, Fifties and Sixties for Protest Continuity .................................. 223 A Note on the Forties and Fifties ................................................................................................ 223 The Sixties