De la sala de clases a la guerra de clases

Student struggles have been a driving force of class struggle in both Chile and Brazil throughout the 21st century.

In Chile, movements have evolved from the “mochilazo” in 2001 to the significant revolt of 2019. These struggles have centered around two main demands: 1) an end to profit-making in education and the dismantling of the education model inherited from the dictatorship; and 2) a fight against rising transportation costs, connecting to broader issues of proletarian reproduction. Various groups have impacted the student sector in both reformist and revolutionary ways. However, the student struggle in high schools has increasingly become an exclusive combat against the police, adopting a nihilistic tendency. Meanwhile, former students who formed the “Frente Amplio” have transformed into a left-liberal stance, leaving the current student movement without a clear perspective.

In Brazil, mobilizations against the restructuring of the São Paulo public education system in 2015 provided an opportunity for organization through a bulletin called O Mal Educado. This initiative united autonomist high school students, radical teachers, and activists, focusing on the first school occupations. Following the uprisings that began in June 2013, students occupied over 200 schools in São Paulo, a process that spread to other states. Self-organized in the “Comando das Escolas” (School’s Command), the students successfully overthrew the state’s secretary of education and achieved their main demand — the suspension of the school reorganization. However, as the occupations waned in 2016, O Mal Educado faced a crisis, losing participation and eventually dissolving, highlighting a tendency that characterizes struggles in recent decades.

This discussion aims to analyze the role of student actvism as the driving force behind class struggle and explore its limits. Militants from Chile (Vamos Hacia La Vida) and Brazil (O Mal Educado) will be present.