Student Solidarity in Schools
In her chapter "Forging Alliances, Seeking Justice: How Relatively Privileged Young People Imagine and Build Solidarity across Differences," author Dr. Beth Douthirt Cohen discusses student agency in interrupting racism and other forms of oppression. She talks about how young people, especially in a school context, can perpetuate or break structures that maintain systems of inequality. She describes how fighting for justice in a way that does not immediately benefit you, like white youth interrupting white supremacy in themselves and others, makes you feel connected to movements for justice.
This connection and dedication to justice can be fostered in school. Schools play a prominent part in students' lives and are frequently examined in the literature. Uniquely, Dr. Cohen focuses on the role of students as instigators and leaders, which is often overlooked. She describes how witnesses to discrimination can use their positions of relative privilege to interrupt marginalization. Privilege is comparative and contextual and, therefore, relative. Students can harness their relative social or cultural power to disrupt norms and systems, help push for change, and intervene in day-to-day occurrences.
The study highlights two schools. One is "City High," a public school with a mostly back and brown population, and "Boys High," an all-boys private school with a mostly white population and a yearly tuition of over $30,000. She looks at how students describe the ways they build solidarity across differences. This concept is understudied, yet young people strive to enact specific forms of solidarity in their schools and lives.
Dr. Cohen describes five types of solidarity. The first is the broadest and also the weakest. Human solidarity is the feeling of connection between humans. This solidarity emphasizes that shared humanity rises above individual differences. Yet, it can easily be overridden when differences are seen as more than superficial. It can also tend towards a color-blind philosophy that encourages ignoring differences in favor of emphasizing commonality in humanness, which ignores the realities of the need for equity rather than nuanced equality.
She also describes social solidarity. This is a group connection felt due to identity markers like religion, race, language, or socioeconomic status. It persists as long as the similarity is perceived as more significant than any difference within the group. Civic and Institutional solidarity are the forces responsible for the cohesion of nation-states. They can be seen in the nationalistic pride of supporting your country's athletes at the Olympics or rooting for your college sports team. It is fostered in concepts like school spirit or the idea that belonging to an institution like a high school is a form of brotherhood.
Dr. Cohen describes political solidarity as being unique. It is solidarity felt for those working towards the same political goals or commitment to a political cause. In many cases, this solidarity is tactical or strategic. Cultural solidarity also focuses on accomplishing a change. It emphasizes the need for a social or cultural shift. People feel bonded to those with whom they are working to form a new culture, such as students trying to shape their schools' social and cultural landscapes into inclusive spaces for learning.
In speaking with students directly, Dr. Cohen found that many find that their worlds are too rigid and limiting. Additionally, regardless of relative privilege, most had witnessed painful identity-based marginalization such as racist or ableist bullying. Young people want to build healthy identities. They are searching, questioning, and seeking experiences to broaden their horizons. They see their identities as complex and feel solidarity knowing others are also complex.
Students can also sense their schools' concerns about appearance and reputation. School communities that truly want to foster solidarity need to take a different approach than they would to ideas like diversity, inclusion, and tolerance. They must cultivate a culture where dissent does not indicate a lack of school spirit and encourage student leadership in traditional and nontraditional roles. This helps young people take an active role in their school's culture and their futures.
Schools can also focus on creating experiences for students which center innovation and solutions within marginalized communities rather than charity or pity. Dr. Cohen found that even short-term interventions, like day trips, could lead to ongoing conversations and change. In addition, classes should try to foster critical thinking and include coursework discussing issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and international studies. Schools can be spaces that cultivate and nurture forms of solidarity that seek to battle oppression and marginalization. Students want it and want to engage with it. School plays such a big role in young people's lives and could be a great force for social good.
About the Author
Stella Hudson is a Graduate Assistant with the Baha’i Chair for World Peace. She graduated from the College of William and Mary in 2021 with a B.A. in English. She is attending the University of Maryland and pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Science.