The UK has historically exhibited a moderate tradition of student activism over the course of the twentieth century, especially when compared with those occurrences in continental Europe. Historically, student protests have been infrequent and politically marginal, only able to address demands at the local level, mainly on issues related to individual colleges and universities. Even in the years of the global wave of student mobilizations of the 1960s, British students showed a low disruptive potential for collective action and expressed very moderate political demands and goals. At first sight, the high level of antagonism exhibited by the student mobilization of 2010 may, thus, appear to be surprising, marking an explicit discontinuity with the moderate protest culture of British students, unable until that moment to challenge the long-term process of higher education marketization.