May 09

European Protest Movements: 1968 In Europe

Europe Student activism Protests and resistance Trackbacks (0)
European Protest Movements: 1968 in Europe

Online teaching and research guide companion to a book about the history of European protest and activism in 1956-1977, with an emphasis on 1968 protests in Paris, Prague, Berlin, and Rome. Features chronologies for almost 20 European countries, bibliographies and suggested sources for individual countries, and links to related sites.
URL: http://1968ineurope.sneakpeek.de/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/26016

The May Events Archive
This online archive "documents this exciting historical moment with original leaflets, magazines, and newspapers" from 1968, "the climactic year of New Left protest all over the Western world, and especially in [Paris] France where in May of that year ten million workers transformed a student protest into a revolutionary movement by joining it in the streets." Search, or browse by type of material or author. Documents are in French. Simon Fraser University Library, Canada.
URL: http://edocs.lib.sfu.ca/projects/mai68/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/26015 

Annotations copyright LII.ORG 

May 04

Student Revolt, Paris, 1968

France Student activism Trackbacks (0)

40 years later, France debates, dissects, and disagrees about the legacy of student protest

May 1968, France's fast-forward revolution
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/bhistoryb-france-is-still-torn-over-its-revolution-forty-years-on/2008/04/28/1209234751594.html 

France Still Divided Over Lessons of 1968 Unrest [Free registration may be required]
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/world/europe/30france.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Visiting the ghosts of Paris 1968
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7354335.stm

Time: Battle of the Sorbonne
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,838353,00.html

BBC Radio 4: 1968, the Year of Revolutions [Real Player]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/1968/yearofrevolutions.shtml

Echoes of 1968 [Real Player]
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89372462

Revolution was certainly nothing new to France in 1968, but a series of student protests that began at Nanterre University in March that year continues to be a polarizing subject of conversation throughout the country. Eventually the university was closed in May, and students began a widespread attack on the outdated rules imposed on them by the university system across France. Demonstrations and riots soon engulfed the Latin Quarter and the Sorbonne and forty years later, the country remains deeply divided about the legacy of these events. Even the language used by different factions within French society reflects the stark differences, as the right refers to the protests as "the events", while the left refers to these protests as "the movement". One person who has not minced any words about his feelings on the matter is French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who has stated that May 1968 represents anarchy and moral relativism. A student activist from that period, Andre Glucksmann, recently commented, "Sarkozy is the first post-'68 president. To liquidate '68 is to liquidate himself." [KMG]

The first link leads to an excellent article from this Tuesday's The Age (Melbourne), which discusses the legacy of the student protests and demonstrations in France 40 years ago. The second link will whisk users away to an article from the New York Times about the legacy of the protests and general perceptions about these events in contemporary France. The third link will take visitors to a personal reflection on the protests offered by BBC correspondent John Pickford. Moving on, the fourth link leads to a piece on the protests that originally appeared in the May 17, 1968 edition of Time magazine. The fifth link whisks users away to a four-part series from the BBC on the "year of revolutions" conducted by Sir John Tusa. The final link will lead visitors to a nice series from National Public Radio on the various social and political upheavals going on in the United States during 1968. [KMG] Scout Report
February 20

1968 Student Protests In Europe

Europe Student activism Trackbacks (0)
1968 in Europe: online teaching and research guide This site was created by an EU funded project headed by Dr. Martin Klimke of the Heidelberg University of Heidelberg and Dr. Joachim Scharloth of the University of Zurich. It provides an excellent teaching and learning guide for students studying the 1968 student and political protests in Europe. It includes a chronology of key events, links to online articles and web resources covering events in specific European nations, plus a bibliography to guide further reading. The teacher's section contains duggested syllabuses, film and reading lists. From Intute.ac.uk
http://1968ineurope.sneakpeek.de/index.php/contact
January 29

White Students And Activists And Black Power Movement

United States of America Black Power Movement Student activism Trackbacks (0)

“Playing in the Doll’s House of Revolution”: White Students and Activists Involved in the Black Power Movement
Source: CUREJ: College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal, University of Pennsylvania

When Stokey Charmichael first uttered the words “black power” to a crowd of civil rights supporters during the “March Against Fear” on June 16th, 1966, it marked an important – and disillusioning – moment for white students and activists involved in the movement, a shift from a civil rights struggle fought not only through nonviolent methods but also through coalitions between whites and blacks. In the years that followed, many of these white activists struggled to find a place in the burgeoning black power movement that often shunned them and the more pacifist approach to rights struggles associated with them. Many dropped out of the movement following this shift, or transferred their energies to other causes; others, however, found themselves involved in Black Power organizations such as the Black Panthers, or supporting their activities despite qualms about their policies and often-violent actions. The question thus must be asked: why did many whites join and support a movement that often excluded or devalued them as a matter of policy? This paper explores the complex social and psychological reasons behind many of these activists’ support for Black Power – as well as the implications of their involvement for race relations to this day.

+ Full Paper (PDF; 160 KB)

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