The Sociology of Student Activism

Student activism has long occupied a central place in the study of social movements and social change. This introductory essay to The Sociological Quarterly’s special issue on student activism reviews key developments in the sociology of student activism related to three central questions: Why do students engage in activism? How do students engage in activism? And what changes does student activism bring about? This essay also introduces each of the articles in this special issue, which span a wide range of countries and movements and employ diverse methodological approaches. Together, this special issue demonstrates the continued vitality of student activism as an object of sociological inquiry and illustrates how further research on student activism can generate theoretical insights that extend well beyond the study of student activism itself.