How Does Political Science Help Promote Mobilization in University Contexts? Lessons from the University of Oxford

How did members of an elite British university mobilize against its central leadership in defense of freedom of speech and protest rights? What lessons can be drawn from this successful collective action, particularly concerning the broader relationship between universities and democratic resilience? In this paper, we analyse a social movement that occurred in Spring of 2024 at the University of Oxford, UK. Drawing on firsthand experience as both the campaign’s organizers and scholars of political science, we explain its outcome and theorise its wider implications for universities as sites of contentious politics. Tracing the event via an in-depth qualitative study, we argue that the movement’s success resulted from a campaign strategically depicting the central university administration’s actions – covertly proposing anti-protest disciplinary legislation – as analogous to democratic backsliding in line with contemporary global trends. This positioned opposing groups – faculty, staff, and students – as ‘protectors of democracy’ within university walls. The effects were twofold: first, this potent, relatively nonpartisan message played into individuals’ real-world anxieties, mapping onto existing value systems with a ready-made set of heuristics about which side should be taken. The result was a critical mass of mobilized university members who claimed, successfully, to represent the university’s ‘true’ majoritarian voice. Second, painting the university’s central leadership as desperate autocrats eroded their legitimacy to the point that they ultimately withdrew their proposed initiative rather than be outvoted. Underpinning these advantages were the individual activists responsible for the campaign. Drawing on their unique disciplinary skillsets, they designed a movement tailored to their understanding of Oxford’s institutional and organizational context and in so doing, turned a set of latent traits into forces for costly collective mobilization. Analysis of this case – an empirical rarity amongst a trend of universities’ successfully scaling back free speech and protest rights – shows how strategic choices about framing are vital to inspiring mass mobilization, along with social networks and individual entrepreneurs. It also reinforces the importance of political science higher education by providing a real-world case of direct impact.