By Ken Budha Kusumandaru

This is a translation of an Indonesian article written by Ken Budha, a member of PRP (Working People's Association) in Indonesia.

In the midst of modern society, there are two classes who are waging an irreconcilable struggle: the working class and the capitalist. The working class doesn’t have any rights to the means of productions, and therefore, has to sell the only things that he has, which is his ability to work (labor power), to the capitalists. Beside those two classes, there are other types of working classes who haven’t lost their right to the means of production, but still have to work hard for living: the peasants, small shopkeepers, and artisans.

Where are students in this class composition of the modern society? On one hand, students do not work. He mainly lives off the sweat of other people, in the form of their parents’ money. On the other hand, he also doesn’t own the means of production where he can directly exploits the sweat of other people.

Therefore, “students” are not a “class”. They are a “sector” of a society which includes children of parents coming from various classes. The class position of students is not yet determined because they have yet to enter real economic life: the production process.

This floating position makes students an easy target from those who have class interest, especially the bourgeoisie. This is the logical consequence from an education system under the bourgeois society: that it is the bourgeoisie who finances the schools.

In the beginning, schools only accepted the children of the ruling class. These schools were used to train cadres that would succeed the ruling class – as seen in the schools under feudalist system where they were only attended by prince or royals. Royal schools, as it is named, were of course set up to prepare those who will be servings the feudalist. Bourgeois schools were open to the public but it was so expensive that only rich children (that is, the children of the bourgeoisie or feudalist) can go.

Only after the workers fought hard that schools are open to the public with cheap tuition fees. One of the biggest fights took place in UK, where hundreds of thousands of workers under the banner of Chartist movement in the end of 18th century demanded universal suffrage and accessible education for all.

With that, now, the battle field amongst students becomes livelier. On one hand, the entrance of the children of the workers to university gives the bourgeoisie an opportunity to give them illusions so that their class consciousness cannot develop. One of the most powerful illusions is the fake opportunity to “climb the class ladder”: to obtain prosperity by being the servants of the bourgeoisie. With that kind of dream, the children of the working class will want to betray their own class interest and their parents’ interest as well. Furthermore, they will be participating in spreading this bourgeois illusion of complying with exploitative system amongst their own class. With this, they have been co-opted to become agents of the institution that protects the bourgeoisie, which is the state that oppresses the workers spiritually and ideologically. They’ve become the most reactionary and counter-revolutionary elements in the society.

On the other hand, the socialists also have the opportunity to train the working class cadres with high education, while at the same time win over the children of the bourgeoisie to the working class struggle. This education is very important for broadening the knowledge amongst workers themselves, developing their critical thinking, their ability to analyze the world around them, and prepare them to run the government once they have taken power from the bourgeoisie. Winning over the children of the bourgeoisie to our struggle is also something strategic. Eventually, once they are in key positions in their own class, they can break the unity of the bourgeoisie when facing revolutionary workers. It is hoped that they will cross over to the workers side once a revolutionary situation emerges. And when the working class takes power, they will become an indispensable help to consolidate power, disarm the reactionary bourgeoisie and help smooth the economy – that is, as oil for the transition process from capitalism to socialism.

Ideological battle in the student sector

The struggle to win over the students is in fact an unfair battle. On one hand, the bourgeoisie, because they own the state, they also own all the education instruments. On the other hand, the socialists only have spirit and organizational support to take away these education instruments for the interest of the oppressed.

The bourgeoisie has everything. Especially in Indonesia, we can see that what is being taught at schools is designed on the table of education bureaucrats – the servants of the bourgeoisie ideology. The moment one steps into school, he is taught that socialism is bad. When he grows up and his critical thinking is developing, he is stuffed with all kind of “scientific” explanations from the bourgeoisie that justify their existence in this world, from way of thinking, economic theory, political theory, philosophy, etc. Every science is so divided that without a correct method of thinking, which is not taught at school, one cannot connect all the dots of these partial truths to become one complete truth. Without a correct method of thinking, anyone who studies philosophy cannot accept that philosophy must also be able to explain observations in physics for example. Those who study politics or law also cannot see that the most important lesson that he/she must learn is in the study of archeology.

Teachers who teach at these schools also come from teacher’s education system that is controlled by the bourgeoisie. Therefore, these teachers are also the servants of the bourgeois system themselves. The education institution is an institution that stands outside the society, it is a standing institution and fully funded to serve the interest of the bourgeoisie. So, we can surely understand that the educational institution is part of the state, it is part of its oppressive ideological machine.

If so, it is not surprising that the administrative system at the education institution generally mirrors the administrative system of the state which it belongs to.

This is clearly seen in Indonesia, where there is a fake parliament for students: Students Senate and Representative Body of Students, which are equally impotent when dealing with important matters related to the well-being of students: tuition fees and campus facilities. On those two matters, the final decision is at the hand of University Senate which is exclusive and elitist.

Such understanding will enable us to scorn the term “education industry”, where education is considered as one of the service industries. Now we have seen how education is an institution that is more ideological than profit-seeking. “Education industry” is just an excuse conjured up by the bourgeoisie to block working class children from entering education system. According to them, it is enough for these workers’ children to go to technical school which is practical so that they can be skilled workers in factories. Therefore, monopoly over knowledge is maintained; therefore, the children of the working class who can (with difficulty) enter into that education system could be easily bought off, and to weaken the student movement who has been historically shown to have a tendency to become a catalyst of workers movement itself.

We can also see how the term “education industry” is far from the reality on the ground. A service industry is supposed to compete by lowering their fee as low as possible so that it can get customers, with facilities according to the set price. But, as we experience ourselves, the tuition fee is getting higher and the service provider very rarely gives facilities which are commanded by the price.

Education is not a service industry. Education is an ideological machine that will develop the cadres and servants of the bourgeoisie.

Faced with this bleak condition, what can the socialists do in student sector?

First, we must be aware that all students, including university students, is heavily influenced by bourgeoisie propaganda which comes in the form of spoken words, written words, cultures, and social settings. Wherever a student goes, he/she will be faced with bourgeoisie propaganda: in classes, in teachers’ offices, in cafeteria, in parking space. Even, in some places, the toilet is divided into toilet for the elite agent of bourgeoisie and that for common people. This is what is known as “hegemony” – a storm of propaganda that makes people numb of the exploitation which they experience.

Therefore, to win the battle against the bourgeoisie in order to win over the students, the socialists have to break this hegemony. The socialists have to establish working class environment in campuses and schools.

Before going further, we have to first agree on what is called “working class environment”. Working class culture is not just a culture “from 9 to 5”, or office work. It is also not a culture of staying overtime in offices, factories or secretariats. Above all, working class culture is a culture of discipline in democracy, determination to carry on tasks that have been assigned through democratic discussions, through majority decision. We will return to this later.

Therefore, the first task of the socialist movement is to carry a flaming torch into the belly of the beast: to agitate and spread propaganda tirelessly and courageously in schools and campuses. The socialist movement always has to use all available means to talk to every student about the most relevant issues. For example, when the situation is very repressive, the socialists have to carry on agitation tirelessly and courageously from person to person with issue of campus democracy. However, when a more open situation has been gained, the socialists have to use newspapers to spread propaganda about socialism on campus. To use a media that can reach out to the mass as widely as possible and to use issues can move as many people as possible, depending on the situation and the condition on the said field.

However, this is not enough. The bourgeoisie propaganda is done systematically and thoroughly in an organized fashion. Therefore, in order to break it, the socialists have to build a working class environment in the middle of the campus – with one warning: without turning the socialists into an exclusive sect that scares away the majority of students.

Often, this is impossible to do on campus, especially when the socialist movement is still a minority and weak. In that situation, there is no other way than bringing the students outside campus, to the working class environment – especially manufacturing workers where the working class culture has reach its high point under bourgeoisie system. Every student who joins the socialist movement has to be linked up physically and ideologically to the two communities simultaneously: student community and workers community. For example, this can be done by taking turns going into workers areas and become workers organizers.

In short, the student movement cannot be left to become student-ish.

On the other hand, it is also the task of the socialists to get many members of the working class into universities and to maintain their loyalties to their own class interests. The socialists cannot stop at the movement for ‘accessible education for all’ that is geared toward developing working class cadres with high skills for the purpose of industrialization once socialism has been won. The more working class cadres we have inside the university, the easier it is to build a community of working class inside campuses, to facilitate acceptance of economic issues on campus, and to get the student masses closer, in a personal manner, to issues that concern the interests of workers outside the walls of campus.

With wide agitation and propaganda, and the developing of a working class environment, at least amongst the socialists themselves, we can expect that this student movement will become thicker with working class hegemony. If this process is successful, then an effort to win a wider student mass will become smoother. Especially in order to break the students’ hedonist environment, we have to show to them that working class culture is far more superior to the hedonist culture they’ve embraced.

As a conclusion, the task of the socialist movement in the student movement is to build a wide community that is connected physically and ideologically with the workers movement itself.

After that

Of course we shouldn’t wait until our community is big to launch propaganda to a wider public, especially the student movement in general. Ideas such as “We are still small in number”, or “We are not strong enough yet”, are in essence showing a deep uncertainty in our ideology. The subsequent result that can spring up from such uncertainty if it is not dealt immediately is sectarian attitudes in the movement.

Soon after a socialist community in the student movement is formed, it has to immediately launch propaganda which is directed to student masses, especially to student movement.

What is the main thing that the socialists have to include in their propaganda in the student movement?

Considering things that we have discussed previously, the propaganda has to be mainly about widening working class influence in the student movement, including necessary propaganda to prevent student movement from being a separate movement from the workers movement.

The socialist student movement has to criticize without mercy the general attitude of the student movement which is reluctant to join the working class movement; these non-partisan attitudes that have no principles at all and other sectarian diseases amongst themselves which are often plaguing the student movement. The socialist student movement has to use all possible methods – asking for understanding or expressing warnings that are hard, sharp, or soft – so that such understanding can entrench itself in the heads and hearts of the student masses.

The socialist student movement has to be able to raise campus issues to become issues that concern the interests of workers generally, and vice versa, working class issues have to be introduced to the student communities on campuses.

The socialist student movement has to be the first group that spread propaganda and organize mass actions at all opportunities, no matter how small, that can be used to expose the true nature of the bureaucratic ruling class on campus.

The socialist student movement also has to be the first to promote solidarity amongst student movements on other campuses, to push the formation of a unity in the student movement on a wider scale. Also we have to still observe some principles in forming a coalition, such as freedom to criticize even amongst friends in the coalition; unity of forces has to be the main priority. Especially when facing a repressive bourgeoisie state.

In short, the socialist student movement has to become a genuine vanguard, not only in theory.

However, besides all that, the socialist student movement has a special place in the revolutionary movement. This is because students are freed from the need to participate in the production process so they can obtain free time, even “given task” to study. Therefore, the task to learn all kind of theories and histories of revolution is pressing hard on the shoulders of the socialist student movement. They carry the weight to draw lessons from all workers revolutionary movements in all countries, to draw analysis and understanding, and to formulate various kinds of new tactics and strategies.

The socialist student movement also has a heavy task to provide reading materials to workers. It is their task, even though it is very difficult, to learn all kind of foreign languages that can be mastered, so that they can translate and publish articles and books that have so far been enjoyed only by few. They also have to demand the opening of public libraries, to fill those libraries with books and encourage everybody to become members of those libraries and to be actively reading. They have to provide means where workers can discuss what they are reading and to guide workers to understand what they are reading.

Such thing will make the connection, physically and ideologically, with the workers to become more imperative, to make it a must. With that, what the student thinks, his consciousness, is a consciousness from an environment which is hegemonic for him, that is the working class environment. Also, he can also share what he has gained from mental labors to the workers, explaining to the workers in their own language, and help the workers movement to realize all those mental labors.

The socialist student movement is an avenue to recruit elements that can help workers find their genuine consciousness.

Translated by Ted S from “Kaum Sosialis, Gerakan Mahasiswa, dan Revolusi Demokratik” by Ken Budha Kusumandaru