“Remember that you do not organise just to win. You organise because the oppressive conditions of this institution require an urgent response.
Sometimes you will not win, and that is ok. See yourself as part of a continuous cycle of people who have been doing resistance work in Cambridge for a long time.
Clear the path for others and bring them in, give them the tools you wish you had when you started getting involved in student activism.”
Lola Olufemi’s advice to student activists in the Cambridge Disorientation Guide (2018). Image credit: Abera Khan.
Organising guides
The Disorientation Guides produced by 12 Pints Press are essential reading for anyone interested in social justice activism in Cambridge. Inside you can find carefully archived information for building and sustaining movements based at the University.
Student Organiser’s Handbook (2015)
Focused more on strategy and tactics – the Student Organiser’s Handbook compiles tips from previous generations of organisers to encourage new students to get out there and start organising!
Societies
Join a collective to see what sort of work at the University of Cambridge are listed below.
The African & Caribbean Society is a community of students of African and Caribbean descent.
The Black Cantabs Research Society places Black students in the institution’s past, present, and future.
The BME (Black & Minority Ethnic) Campaign is a platform for organising around BME issues and concerns.
Cambridge Climate Justice campaigns for Cambridge to cut ties with environmentally destructive industries.
Cambridge Defend Education fights for an empowering, emancipatory and radical vision of education.
Critical Theory and Practice provides a space to combine theory with transformation and activism.
The Decolonise Cambridge Network is a hub for decolonisation events and campaigns.
End Everyday Racism is an independent research project designed to map racism in Cambridge.
FLY – Freedom Loving You is the network and forum for women and non-binary students of colour.
FUSE is a group for queer people of colour at the University of Cambridge.
The Kurdish Society (KurdSoc) is for all those interested in learning about Kurdish culture and politics.
The Palestine Society (PalSoc) aims to promote the culture, heritage & rights of Palestinian people.
Cambridge Radical Archives 