Are we witnessing the rise of 'global' student protests, in the wake of austerity policies and globalised educational reforms? To answer this question, this article draws on a comparison of the claims, anger, and hope present in three post-2008 student movements: the student movement in Santiago, Chile (2011-2012), the 'Maple Spring' in Montreal, Canada (2012), and the 'Umbrella Movement' in Hong Kong (2014). The comparative method aims to identify the extent to which these movements conveyed a common political discourse about the world. The comparison is based on a statistical and qualitative analysis of protest texts (slogans, placards, and posters) collected directly at each of the disputes (n = 1100). The article shows that, beyond their differences, there is indeed a common pattern emerging from all these movements, based on the articulation of three main principles: education, intergenerational justice, and democracy.