ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the role of students as a critical mass within their urban context and society through examples of student revolts from the foundation period of universities in the Middle Ages until twenty first century, covering the whole European continent. It highlights the creativity of students in the staging of their identity through words, slogans, symbols, gestures, and noise. The book investigates how and when students transgressed the boundaries of the universities with their protest. It focuses on the role the city plays in collective actions of students, as a public space, or as a material reality in student life. In some cases, students took the lead in political debates and were even the cause of social upheaval: then the student body acted as an agent of change.
