Neoliberalism, Violence and Student Resistance in the Higher Education Sector in Bangladesh

Abstract

Neoliberalism is a common form of policy doctrine that has been incorporated into the higher education sector in Bangladesh since the 1990s. Due to this policy doctrine, Bangladesh’s higher education sector has experienced radical changes. This article argues that violence has erupted in higher education institutions following university authorities and government intervention into student resistance movements. It further argues that the campus violence which has been unfolding recently in various universities has a different context and focus from previous student activism. In the past significant resistance movements that had the support of public masses had been accompanied by the campus violence in Bangladesh. Such campus violence contributed to nationalist movements and led to the downfall of autocrat rulers and reversal of their decisions. However, current resistance movements have turned into a new form of campus violence. This article examines the shifts in the nature of student protests and explores possible relationships between the overt violence of student resistance movements and the hidden violence embedded within the power systems that are currently accompanying neoliberal and monetarist agendas.