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The moral economy of the UK student protest movement 2010–2011

The winter of 2010 through to the spring of 2011 saw a number of high profile, nationally and locally organised student protests and occupations of university campuses all around the UK. These were a direct response to the UK government policy to lift the cap on higher education (HE) tuition fees and the reduction in government funding for HE institutions in England. To explain this revolt, I draw on the work of Thompson [1971. The moral economy of the English crowd in the 18th century. Past & Present, 50, 76–136; 1993. Customs in common: Studies in traditional popular culture. New York, NY: New Press] to argue that they were a ‘moral economy’ of protests. This paper draws on a two-and-a-half-year ethnographic study of the student political community. I argue that the student community have mobilised in defence of an embedded tradition – affordable HE – and that they are politically motivated by what they consider to be an entitlement violation.