Italy has historically exhibited a strong tradition of student activism, displayed both in universities and in the more general mobilizations experienced by Italian society throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Italian students have traditionally shown a high level of politicization, fostered and manifested by the adoption of various strands of Marxist ideology within the student movement (such as Maoism, Leninism, Stalinism, and Autonomism), more oriented to address the broader issues of capitalist society rather than student matters. Considering these traditions, it is not surprising to observe how the mobilization dynamics of the 2008 and 2010 student campaigns reflected this more politicized culture, exemplified by the students' attempts to generalize and further politicize an issue of university funding by making alliances with grassroots movements and unions.