Framing dissent and poverty as a menace to public order can threaten fundamental rights, particularly when it’s used to justify the deployment of predictive technology.
Unless and until student encampments become an unreasonably severe disruption to the enjoyment of university spaces, there is no argument supporting state intervention.
Student protests on campuses are calling attention to atrocities in Gaza and challenging university administrators to divest. What is the best way forward that avoids unnecessary violence?
Almost 56 years to the day after the anti-war protests in 1968, New York City police evicted Columbia University students from an on-campus occupation.
A key component in any planning around encampments is the voice of people with lived experience. It is clear the go-to response of policing is not working.
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science, OCAD University/Associate Professor of Sociology, Gender Studies and Cultural Studies (retired), Queen's University, Ontario