| Summary: | This thesis investigates the English student movement between the years of 1965 and 1973, offering the first sustained exploration of this 'case study' of a particular type of social movement, i.e. movements of students. The research looks at this movement in relation to social movement theories, as a sociological explanation for this historical movement is sought. New , social movement theory has long been viewed and accepted by some scholars as the explanatory theory for movements such as student movements that were emerging since the 1960s. However, in this thesis I challenge this assumed dominance of New Social Movement theory in relation to the English student movement, arguing that complex social movements may require more holistic explanations in order to fully understand the features and attributes that comprise these movements. The English student movement was a complex and varied movement, with its specificities often relating to location, thus any explanation of the movement needs to be able to grant flexibility to the variances as well as the commonalities present. Sociological attention has been limited in relation to the English student movement, even though the English student movement was significant within the history of our universities as well as broader English radical traditions and left wing actions. This thesis thus attempts to right that lack of attention in some small way, making use of previously unused documentary sources and documenting the voices of those involved within the English student movement before the details of the events are consigned even further to the realms of history. The thesis looks at two stories of the movement, stressing "the importance of full understanding and theorising accordingly. The use of a theoretical synthesis, fundamentally drawing upon the work of Canel (1992), is employed in order to understand the empricial exploration of this movement. This thesis offers an orginal contribution to the understanding of the English student movement, via grounding in empirical data and sustained sociological explanation.
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