Can occupations ever be successful?

Over at the Sheffield Uni Occupation blog they have a big long list of successful University occupations. I stand well and truly corrected. I was barking up the wrong tree with this post. It was simply a ‘total lie’ – something I realised when confronted with the overwhelming evidence offered by the Occupiers.

Exhibit A: Edinburgh University

Through an occupation and a rather snazzy blog, Edinburgh’s occupiers managed to do the unthinkable. They made a change that will affect you, me, Palestinians and Israelis. Yes, people, they did it: they managed to get Eden Spring mineral water banned.

Students will no longer sup from the cup of ideological perversity, and can instead refresh themselves in the well of ethical purity. This breakthrough, however, was slightly undermined by the fact that the University was banning bottled water anyway. Oops.

Here’s the quote:

“With specific regard to the use of bottled Eden Springs water, the University acknowledges that there are strongly held concerns about Eden Springs, and that were it not for the fact that it is preparing to cease using bottled water, it would have been necessary to review the purchase of water from Eden Springs.”

I suppose if you campaign to ban things that are already getting banned, you’re going to be successful. So well done there. The Occupation also won the right to, err, exercise a right they already had, and go through official channels to argue for a more ethical investment policy. Radical!

The only discernible achievement of the Edinburgh Occupation is the possible establishment of 5 scholarships for Gazan students. This is a genuinely good thing, but before Occupation advocates get carried away, they have to ask themselves: could this have been achieved without an occupation? The answer, I think, is yes. Edinburgh had done similar schemes with other humanitarian crises. Thus, was the occupation necessary? No.

Exhibit B: Cardiff University

On the face of it, it was Cardiff’s occupation that most successful. They persuaded the University to divest from BAE and General Electric (partly). That’s good. But their aim was a bit different:

“Cardiff University to divest all shares, direct or indirect, from arms manufacturers and aerospace companies.”

They may have divested shares, but the University still has a large stake in the arms industry. £150,000 worth of contracts with QinetiQ in the engineering department. It’s not okay to invest in bombs, but it’s obviously okay to make them.

The entire list offered by Sheffield Uni Occupiers is full of rather dubious successes, and plenty of vague promises from various universities, who will ‘consider’ or ‘review’ the aims of the Occupiers.

I would love it if the Occupation succeeded in some of their aims (the scholarships, for example) but I’m willing to bet that the University of Sheffield will not cave to the main demands of the occupiers. Any takers for a cheeky fiver?

Related posts:

1. Occupational hazard
2. Credit crunch survival for just £500. Kind of.

Tags: BAE, Duncan Robinson, Student Politics, Student Radicalism, University Occupations, University of Cardiff, University of Edinburgh, University of Sheffield