Although higher education should be accessible to all on the basis of merit, according to international human rights law, neoliberal policies adopted by provincial governments increasingly worsen financial access to post-secondary education (PSE) in Canada. Their lobbying and advocacy is informed by discourses conducted on their website and by their members; this study explores how these discourses frame and inform CFS's movement towards the equal realization of the right to equal PSE. Social semiotics (Hodge & Kress, 1988) and discourse analysis (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002) are used as methodological frameworks to unfold how the discourse carried out by CFS in their electronic publications and by their members furthers their collective advocacy. .
Canadian Federation of Students (CFS): A national student association with more than 500,000 members from more than 64 universities and colleges across Canada (Canadian Federation of Students, 2020). Post-secondary education (PSE): This term is used to refer to all formal education obtained after high school in Canada, including universities, colleges and vocational schools. Student Activist: Any individual currently enrolled in a post-secondary institution and involved in social advocacy, campaigning, or activism.
Universal higher education: A system of higher education in which tuition and financial barriers are absent, so that students of lower socioeconomic status are not fiscally excluded from accessing postsecondary systems.
Introduction
To examine CFS discourse, I focus on two reports on the CFS website that directly address universal higher education. This study assesses international human rights standards and Canada's legal obligations regarding access to higher education to determine the social context. The speeches the CFS makes verbally and on their website are in support of universal access to PSE, making understanding Canada's approach to providing access to the right to higher education a crucial context.
While previous literature focused primarily on the legal framework outlining higher education as a human right (Kotzmann McCowan, this study examines how the discourses of CFS operate in support of this right. Examining the use of human rights, social justice and economic discourses of CFS in support for universal higher education is a unique contribution to the growing body of literature on social activism and social justice the United Nations documents most critically relevant to higher education are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the.
The ability to realize the right to higher education is intertwined with four central pillars of social justice: equity, access, human rights and participation.
Theoretical Framework
Participation in PSE in Canada has been increasing, but not expanding, so focusing on increasing the breadth of people able to fully participate in PSE on an equal basis is a critical component of social justice work. Miller (1979, p. 20) says that justice is suum cuique (to each); Social Justice affirms it. Social justice aims at a society in which all human rights can be realized and enjoyed by people simply on the basis of their humanity.
The above pillars provide an important theoretical foundation for the study as they help identify and understand the intention and purpose of CFS's discourse use in support of their social justice. In advocating universal PSE, CFS utilizes each of these components of social justice in its discourse, both in written and oral communications. The analysis of the written reports examined in Chapter 4 reveals the various ways in which these pillars of social justice inform CFS advocacy.
The cyclical nature of the four pillars of social justice: access, equity, human rights and participation, along with a description of how each pillar functions in relation to PSE.
Methodology
Understanding the ideological position of CFS functions in conjunction with the technical aspects of discourse analysis provides a nuanced understanding of how the organization uses discourse to advance its mandate. In addition to its text, CFS includes many images on its website, and social semiotics conveys an understanding of how these different media intertwine to support CFS's mandate. In addition to data from publications, semi-structured interviews were also conducted with seven CFS students, members and executives.
Asking this data question to start the discourse assumes that CFS is actually creating social change towards inclusive and accessible PSE. I began this process by reading to find any examples of the four pillars of social justice, knowing that CFS is a social justice organization. Participants were recruited by CFS Manitoba Branch (CFS-MB) and Act 33 was introduced in Manitoba during the recruitment period for this study.
Authenticity is understood as the variety of viewpoints sought, and the transformative potential of the findings.
Data Analysis
The interviews also provide a window into the discursive and social practice of CFS advocates in a contemporary social, political and economic context. The inclusion of both target groups is an integral part of the overall development of CFS social advocacy. The use of personal pronouns indicates the writer's discursive strategies (Gocheco, 2012) and can provide insight into the social distance or solidarity between the producer and consumer of the text (Bano & Shakir, 2015).
This modality facilitates a close relationship between readers and the producers of the text (CFS; Wang, 2010). The ultimate goal of the CFS's written discourse is to inspire activism (CFS, 2020) as they work towards further inclusive PSE across Canada. Education for All supports the right to higher education by presenting statistical facts (Figure 3) and collecting financial figures (Figure 4) to demonstrate the seriousness of the problem and the feasibility of financing it.
Establishing universal PSE as an issue that benefits the collective, beyond just a subset of the population (students) can appeal to policy makers and institutional decision makers that CFS targets in their campaigns and advocacy (CFS, 2020). Combining the use of "we" with a broad perspective of social justice issues related to universal WHY shows the reader their potential place in the movement and the impact of advocating for these social changes. While Education Justice highlighted the multitude of social obstacles and the consequences of the lack of education for indigenous peoples.
Linking Canada's priority of reconciliation (Government of Canada, 2018) directly to the funding of PSE creates a compelling case in favor of the CFS' social justice mandate. The opening line reads "We are one of the most educated countries in the world". This page introduces the report, the CFS, and directly mentions three of the four pillars of social justice (equity, access and participation).
The purpose of CFS through these discourses is to educate the audience on the subject, while. Creating this commitment and promoting the social movement towards universal PSE ultimately contributes to the aspirational goal of universal realization of the right to higher education. Education for All contains the first direct occurrence of "entitlement" in the document's summary (p. 1).
A possible cause for the additional intertextual references to human rights could be the focus of the document itself.
Discussion
The perception of Canada's involvement in human rights has the potential to influence the design of CFS's advocacy and publications going forward, discussed in more detail below. The conclusion can therefore be drawn that CFS uses human rights discourse as one of many tools in its arsenal to advocate for universal PSE. Focus on indigenous discourses in both publications and in participants' responses, supported intertextually by references to international human rights law and.
Included in this study as an integral part of social justice discourses, human rights claims and terminology are absent from CFS publications (see Chapter 4). Despite the existence of the right to higher education in international human rights law (the United Nations, CFS does not regularly use intertextual references to these documents to support its universal advocacy of PSE. In the above excerpt, Jane explains her position that student rights and human rights are inseparable, although specific advocacy design focuses on students as a specific demographic group.
In her view, omitting the human rights language allows her to prioritize the needs and concerns of students. It also refers to the need to target discourse to a unique audience (as explored in Chapter 4), despite the fact that the foundation of universal PSE is based on human rights. She noted that while she prefers and aligns with human rights discourse (much like Elise), the CFS is out of necessity focused on the economic framing of the universal.
As a white settler, I find human rights the most compelling and also very recognizable. Although the discourses enacted in Justice Education and Education for All may not often draw on intertextual references to human rights, the participants' responses point to the existence of human rights as a foundation of CFS collective identity. Since the formation and promotion of a collective identity is essential for any social movement (Fisher Fominaya, 2010; . Polletta & Jasper, 2001), rooting the principles of universality and justice of human rights for all strengthens the collective advocacy of CFS.
The human rights-based approach to higher education: Why human rights norms should guide higher education law and policy. The foundation of international human rights law. https://www.un.org/en/sections/universal-declaration/foundation-international-human-rights-law/index.html. What would be some benefits to CFS using more human rights claims in your communications?
The aim of this research project is to investigate the use of human rights language by student activists in the pursuit of universal higher education.