ABSTRACT. This article argues that feminist university struggles in Chile – particularly the Mayo Feminista (Feminist May) of 2018 – offer productive resources for unsettling the myths underpinning international education. The so-called ‘academic fairytale’ rests on promises of meritocracy, mobility and freedom that, in practice, conceal neoliberal, colonial and patriarchal structures. Through textual analysis of student petitions and examination of movement repertoires, this study demonstrates how feminist students denounced ‘university patriarchy’ and demanded non-sexist education, gender protocols and institutional transformation. These counter-narratives resonate globally, as international students also face epistemic gatekeeping, linguistic hierarchies and labour precarity. Drawing on feminist and decolonial theory, the article highlights how solidarity, care and collective resistance function as alternative foundations for reimagining higher education. Methodologically, the study combines textual analysis of student petitions with comparative reflections from international education contexts, revealing how local feminist struggles in Chile anticipate post-fairytale horizons. Far from accepting neoliberal metrics of excellence, these experiences propose a reconfigured university rooted in care, intersectional justice and epistemic plurality.

Keywords: feminism; international education; social movements; coloniality of knowledge; non-sexist education

How to cite: Pavez, C., & Castro, C. (2026). Counter-narratives of care and solidarity: Feminist university struggles in Chile and the post-fairytale futures of international education. Knowledge Cultures, 14(2), 234–253. https://doi.org/10.22381/kc142202612

Received February 28, 2026 • Received in revised form June 13, 2026
Accepted July 15, 2026 • Available online August 1, 2026