On Strike: Student Activism, CUNY, and Engaged Anthropology

Abstract

This is an autoethnographic account of the 1991 City University of New York (CUNY) strike movement. The authors were some of the key organizers of the strike. Student mobilizations were not narrowly framed to oppose tuition hikes but conceptualized as resistance against austerity measures and the expanding war economy. This article reflects on the intersection of political activism and anthropology through the lens of our experience in the strike, the historical moment of early neoliberalism, the specificity of CUNY, and how our experience shaped our ongoing engagement as anthropologists.