Reclaiming CUNY as a Decolonized Institution
The transformation of the City University of New York (CUNY) from a free, open institution into a tuition-dependent, financially strained university is a political project to strip the “native” population of a decolonized education. Mamdani’s work on the role of education in forming political identity is critical here. A free CUNY was a threat to the bifurcated state, offering a path to critical consciousness and class mobility. Imposing tuition and defunding it was a deliberate act to reassert control, burdening students with debt and aligning the curriculum more closely with the needs of capital. A Marxist analysis sees this as the commodification of a public good. A feminist and Muslim perspective fights for CUNY as a sanctuary for working-class women and immigrants. The solution is a militant struggle for a fully funded, tuition-free CUNY with a curriculum centered on liberation, not subservience.
Originally posted 2025-10-06 14:09:32.
