Reprint: The student movement must develop a liberatory political programme
László Molnárfi This year proves that united as students, we can pressure the authorities and win on important issues. We stopped fee increases, rent hikes, …
Reprint: Internationalisation of the academic sector cannot be separated from colonial legacy
László Molnárfi and Zaid Al-Barghouthi One certainty about the third-level education sector is that it would be substantially harder to maintain without international students who …
Totalising Politicisation: Voluntary Associationism in Student Unions for Progressive Ends
Totalising Politicisation: Voluntary Associationism in Student Unions for Progressive Ends
By László Molnárfi
Sunday 27 October 2024
The closed-shop student union model has paradoxically led to an all-encompassing, yet strikingly unrepresentative model of democracy. It is a mirage of liberal philosophy, presupposing a magical, homogenous and apolitical unity between students. It does the bidding of university managers and the state to ensure that student unions are devoid of radical politics and to turn them into organisations invisibly occupied by the liberal mainstream. In this article, I will make the case from a left-wing perspective to abolish mandatory membership and replace it with voluntary association.
Iran and Israel, A relationship of contradictions.
This piece will address an increasingly problematic narrative I have been seeing in news media and discussions in apparent “left-wing” outlets in the West, there is also a huge conglomerate of leftist content creators who promote these same narratives some examples to keep an eye out for are Richard Medhurst, ”SaveSheikhjarrahnow”, Max Blumenthal. They all share the following views that I write about in the following sentences. I am referring to the common misrepresentation of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a bulwark against imperialism and Western hegemony.
TCDSU is the most democratic it has ever been, via grassroots participation
It is with bewilderment that students read the Trinity News editorial dated 21st of March 2024 accusing the Students’ Union of authoritarian tendencies. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, this year has seen student participation in the union skyrocket and power decentralized, due to the grassroots structures that we created.
Maynooth’s New Strategic Plan Faces Protests By Postgraduate Workers
On Tuesday this week members of the Postgraduate Worker’s Organisation (The largest Postgraduate union in Ireland boasting well over 1000 members) protested the launch of Maynooth’s New Strategic Plan by the university’s president. This is part of recent escalations nationwide by the union, which has balloted across universities in support of Collective Action across various universities. It has proven itself a militant union in its actions, rapidly growing since the merger between PhDs’ Collective Action Union (PCAU) and the Postgraduate Workers Alliance Ireland (PGWAI).
Stand With Palestine
The following statement has been written by the editorial committee of Aontacht Media with the consultation of individuals involved with organising for Palestine.
Maynooth University “Systematically Excludes” Staff From Key Decisions in Trend Towards Commercialisation
In recent weeks the Maynooth University executive staff have come under fire over their recent decision to appoint internal members to the governing authority rather than elect them as has been the case in years gone by. The provision for appointing internal members to the governing authorities of universities was included under part 10 of the Higher Education Authority Act 2022 which amends the previously applicable 1997 Universities Act.
In a world which really is topsy-turvy, the true is a moment of the false
According to Guy Debord, organiser of the Situationist International (SI) anti-capitalist movement, “in a world which really is topsy-turvy, the true is a moment of the false”. What appears as true is false; what is false is true. We, students, see this everywhere, including in our universities and student unions.
The Far Right and Migrants
The lockdown and pandemic marked a turndown for the working class. After years of stagnation following the water charges, which was briefly interrupted by a militant student movement, the left suddenly found it’s meagre gains completely halted. The far right seemed ascendant – isolation, failures by anti-racist groups and mass proliferation of disinformation on social media resulted in large scale protests by disenfranchised communities against the government’s covid policies. For a short period after the lockdown, the far right seemed to have retreated, but with economic downturn, endless government corruption and mass migration following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the far right made an explosive reveal at Sandwith Street.