Creating an Anarchist Community: How can Students from a Neoliberal University Participate?

This paper analyses the experiences of university students at the Canicab Community Centre (CCC) in Yucatán, Mexico. It demonstrates that, in the face of neoliberal university policies, we can nevertheless offer students opportunities to participate in libertarian and emancipatory forms of community. I collected evidence through the participatory action and testimonials of volunteer students at the CCC. Three elements stand out: A) The student volunteers have built a microcosm of an anarchist society with the residents of Canicab. B) As a result of the horizontal relationships they have formed, academic degrees and schooling have less relevance than knowledge with practical utility, which encourages the participation of the local population. C) There is evidence of anarchic direct action on the part of the volunteers. This research shows that it is possible to develop a small emancipatory, anarchist community committed to social and cultural transformation, even though the students participating have been trained in a neoliberal university.