As a Chinese history researcher and contemporary American society, based on the situation that is not present, I do not plan to conduct a micro analysis of the student movement, nor does it want to predict the future direction., Politics and campus culture conduct deeper critical analysis.
In fact, in the small free liberal arts college I taught by myself, the atmosphere is very calm from beginning to end. There is neither student assembly, protest, and support, nor related information published on the school website.Professor of Arabic language and culture jointly organized a public seminar.But such a discussion is equivalent to treating this movement and the problems behind it as a pure academic problem.
This involves a social mobilization foundation involving large -scale student movements.Generally speaking, the essence of student movements has high moral idealism and a simple sense of justice.This is the reason why the student movement is "natural and reasonable", because college students usually do not have the motivation for their vested interests and self -interest, and issues that are not directly related to their own interests.Ask.They hope that society, and even the whole world will be more fair, just, and humane, even if they face the violence and threats of national machines.This is the fundamental reason why the student movement is worthy of cherishment, and it is also the root cause of the extensive sympathy of the people.
But the launch of the student movement also has some related conditions, so not every university will outbreak students protest.For example, this time the American Student Movement is concentrated in large universities with a large number of people, because only such university campuses can produce scale effects, it is easier to emotionally stimulate each other, and it is easy to resonate with the surrounding environment.Small and medium -sized universities may be far away from academic and cultural centers. There are not many people. The lack of diversification within students, it is not easy to organize protests; even occasionally, it will be ignored because of too small scale.In addition, the school's tradition is also very important.Columbia University itself is the pioneer of the 1968 anti -Vietnam war demonstration. Such a student's mobileist tradition cannot not have some kinds of inspiration and incentives for later students.In this sense, the student movement itself is also a manifestation of the sense of social responsibility of young knowledge.
The American University Student Movement led the World Youth Movement in the 1960s and early 1970s, and had a significant impact on global politics and culture.But in my opinion, this year's student movement is unique to touch the most sensitive taboos of the United States politics and society, that is, the attitude towards Israel and Jewish restoration.
In fact, the United States' protest against the Vietnam War in the last century involved only foreign policies at the time, as well as the government's aggressive anti -communist ideology.Some of the memories of some famous American sinologists even pointed out that it was the strong curiosity of the anti -Vietnam war protest and the "Asian" culture and society that caused the "Asian" culture and society. They guided them at the time and began to study China; it was the strong anti -communist consciousness of the US government.The form stimulates their interest in China in the Mao era that was in a closed state at the time, and the enthusiasm for research on Chinese socialism.
The difference between protests this year's protest and anti -Vietnam War is that Vietnam -whether it was South Vietnam at that time or North Vietnam -it was a strange country that did not have much relationship with the United States.When I was a PhD, an old American classmate even told me that at that time, many Americans didn't even know how Vietnam pronounced it. It would read the "Vietnam" with a heavy nasal sound as NAM.But the relationship between Israel and the United States is too special.As a country, a symbol, a kind of power, has long been deeply embedded in the life and political consciousness of contemporary Americans, and has already become a taboos of public places and classroom teaching. It has long been a sensitive topic that no one dares to touch easily.
American students dare to carry out large -scale support and sympathy for Palestinian demonstrations, and the courage is far greater than the Anti -Vietnam War.According to the number quoted by the China News Agency, from the beginning of October 2023 to the beginning of May 2024, the military operations of the Israeli Army in the Gaza Strip have caused 34,596 Palestinian deaths and 77,816 injuries.This is the direct reason to trigger the strong attention of American college students.
"Freedom" and "Order" game without solution
Because of the sensitivity of the problem, the United States has taken action quickly on the student movement, and doubles the school discipline and police law enforcement.Theoretically, Americans certainly have the right to express their views given by the Constitution.However, not to mention the daily life of Americans has actually implemented self -examination countless times to ensure that their own remarks do not touch sensitive topics. Once the implementation of this constitutional rights, and collective action in the real space, such as occupying a certain amountTonglou or camp on campus, combined, it is impossible to not conflict with national machines, and individuals are always weak in front of national machines.
Between abstract "freedom" and specific "order", there will always be unsolved games and conflicts.What kind of actions are "legal" and what kind of "illegal" can only be defined by police rather than students.However, no one will fundamentally question democracy and freedom, because democracy and freedom are fundamentally only the principle of abstraction, even if it is necessary, but once it enters the reality, even in the United States, even in the United States, it must be represented by the national power represented by the police.The restrictions of educational authority represented by the school are even defined.
How to deal with various external conflicts and the campus impact caused by its universities in the United States?I want to explain the art in this relatively calm school.In the tide of "Black Life" (BLM) in 2020, the principal of our school immediately issued a statement of supporting protests. From the viewer's view, it seemed to be standing with African -American very justly.However, after the Atlanta shooting of many innocent Asian women in 2021, the principal at the time was completely deaf.Many Americans have also regarded Atlanta shootings as ordinary criminal cases that have nothing to do with racism.It can be seen here that the qualitative and interpretation of similar events has a considerable flexible space.We can ask, the white man who killed many innocent Asian women for no reason, why is there no race and gender color?Is the life of Asian women?
After the start of the Russian and Ukraine War, the school immediately placed a chair sprayed with the color of the Ukrainian flag in several occasions, showing that moral support, and seemed to stand on the political correct side and moral highland, but after all, this is safe, and it is not notAffects actual interests.Then, after the conflict of Harbin was intensified, and even when the student movement of the school campus student moved, as I pointed out earlier, the school's school was once again pretending to be deaf, without saying a word.
This shows that in any specific scenario, the attitude expressed by those in power, as well as the scale that allows others to express their opinions, including deeper levels, who can offend, who can not offend, everything is in fine calculations and control., There are no fixed standards.Those who are in charge can be tailored, selected, and interpreted, and they will always adopt dual standards and even multiple standards at any time. They can explain themselves, and those who have no rights can only accept ruling.The game of "rights" and "power" may be the operating logic of the real society, and whether the principles and theoretically "advocate democracy and freedom."
The author is an associate professor at the Department of History of the Academy of Academy in the United States
