Jacobin Radio Dig: Class Struggle for the University w/ Ian Gavigan
Sep 6, 2025
Ian Gavigan, Executive Director of HELU and a former graduate student worker at Rutgers, discusses the neoliberal challenges facing higher education. He highlights the importance of unionizing and uniting campus workers to combat rising privatization and political pressures. The conversation sheds light on the impact of the Trump administration's policies on academia and the vital role of public institutions in fostering resistance. Gavigan calls for a transformation of universities to prioritize social justice and economic equality.
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Why Higher Ed Is A Strategic Battleground
- The right targets higher education for control, profit, and to shape society's ideas and research priorities.
- Ian Gavigan argues campuses are a battleground where workers must fight defensively and offensively to reclaim power.
Neoliberalism Set The Stage For Today's Assault
- Neoliberalization shifted higher ed to debt-financing, workforce training, and casualized labor, hollowing out public support and academic breadth.
- Gavigan links this long process to current federal-level attacks, including surprising moves against research funding.
Campus Labor Power Has Rapidly Grown
- Graduate worker union density surged to about 50% representation, shifting campus power dynamics and forcing administrations to reckon with organized labor.
- Gavigan sees that organized workforces made campuses both targets and sites of resistance under Trump 2.0.
