Abstract:

Across the globe and throughout different countries, social movements are speaking out against neoliberal regimes. Québec’s Printemps Erable, the largest social protest in Canadian history occupies an important place among these social movements. This article aims to analyze the 2012 Québec Student Strike, which was sparked by the decision of the governing Parti Liberal du Québec to increase tuition fees by 75 per cent over the next five years. The student strike then developed into a social movement against neoliberalism as a whole. In other words, the students’ fight has become one front in a broader struggle for social justice and the reorganization of society. This transformation of the movement, from a student strike to a social movement against neoliberalism, is deeply linked to the repressive attitude of the Charest government towards students and its decision to choose violence over discussion. Bill 78, an emergency law that brought huge restrictions on liberties of expression, association and assembly, signified a major turning point for the Québec student strike. Following on from this, the strike has progressed, expanded its support base and developed into a popular uprising.This study will focus on the underlying reasons for the emergence of the Québec Student Movement and its evolution in relation to the state’s response to it. To this purpose, primarily, it will analyze the neoliberal phase of capitalism by putting emphasis on the increase in student debt and the commodification of education in the neoliberal age. Secondly, it will shed light on the enlargement and empowerment of the police force and the enforcement of emergency laws under the neoliberal Charest government. Here, the repressive attitude of the Charest government of Québec towards the student strike and its effects on the evolution of Printemps Québecois will be studied

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