Social and economic perspectives of student unrest

Student unrest has been a grave phenomenon and syndrome to educational system in India and world as such. Time and again student organizations give call for agitations to protest their dissent which is either just or unjust, causing violence and civic disturbance. Social anomaly of Indian society and politicization of student folk has further made the educational institutions more vibrant and dynamic organizations. The recent outburst of upper strata to dissent the OBC reservation in the elite higher educational institutions and that of Gujjar community to claim ST status ended in violence towards self and society. Any protest if it is ideology-based is activism; if it fosters violence-ideology it is unrest. Phenomenon of this nature brings to fore challenging issues related to democratic system. Whether means justify end or else it is conviction that the democratic institutions and political leadership respond to violence ideology. Or else is it social insensitivity that the Indian society is prone, which indicates apathy to peaceful means that do not yield any just benefits. Any restive outburst all over the world involves youth force especially from the institutions of higher education. Emerging postmodernism with changing socio-cultural context in the wake of neo-liberalism is a great challenge to the higher education. Indian society in post-independence period is passing through varied transitions in every decade. Green revolution, white revolution, grey revolution and social movements have changed the face of Indian society from time to time. Technological innovations and social constructivism have strengthened the democratic fabric. However, the collectivism of violence ideology to bring drastic changes has endangered the Indian society. Therefore, sociologists, economists and social work scholars have harped upon this phenomenon and attempted to explain it from different perspectives. The paper attempted to scan the social science literature to organize the perspectives proposed by social science scholars in order to develop holistic understanding about the phenomenon.