From University to Multiversity. The University Forty Years After 1968, or How to Live Among the Ruins

Abstract

This essay by Franco Piperno, an Italian communist militant, was originally published as an appendix to his book 68: L’anno che ritorna. From the perspective of his own experiences with the students’ protests and resistance during 1968, he looks at the contemporary crisis of the university and the transformation of higher education in Italy. The context of his deliberations are the ongoing reforms of Italian higher education, which are tightly connected to austerity measures that originated at the beginning of the 21st century. According to Piperno, the current crisis, similarly to the one from forty years ago, opens a possibility to reappropriate the university for students, as long as they can organize themselves.