The Event of May 68. On a Social History of Running Time

The crisis of May-June 1968 in France has been variously interpreted, but many analyses tend to focus upon its alleged causes or consequences. In contrast with this doubly evasive approach overshadowing the event itself, we aim to revert to the 'conjunctural' dimension of the crisis &...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annales : histoire, sciences sociales (French ed.) sciences sociales (French ed.), 2008-03, Vol.63 (2), p.321-349
Main Author: Gobille, Boris
Format: Article
Language:fre
Subjects:
Crises
France
Historicism
Mobilization
Protest Movements
Social History
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The crisis of May-June 1968 in France has been variously interpreted, but many analyses tend to focus upon its alleged causes or consequences. In contrast with this doubly evasive approach overshadowing the event itself, we aim to revert to the 'conjunctural' dimension of the crisis & its most puzzling aspect: the synchronization of students' & workers' mobilizations. Achievements in the fields of historiography, social sciences & the sociology of political crises, induce us to re-examine the weight of the logic of situations behind phases of radicalization, & the effects of an unstable & uncertain context on the actors involved in the uprising. The fact remains that the event cannot be abstracted from its historical background & that the current state of a crisis may also be viewed -- to some extent -- as re-activation of the past. A sociohistorical account of short-term crises is therefore designed to help construe -- and conceive as forming a united whole -- the history of events & the history of structures. The synchronization of mobilizations as well as the political normalization then appear to be the complex -- actual though unnecessary -- outcome of a multilayered interplay between political liability & previous structural changes, & of intermingled national & local intrigues. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:0395-2649