The impact of student protest on French society and government in the 1960s is examined in this socio-historical study. It analyzes the far-reaching consequences of rebellion on trade unionism, the government and the arts.

During May 1968, students and workers in France united in the biggest strike and the largest mass movement in French history. Protesting capitalism, American imperialism, and Gaullism, 9 million people from all walks of life, from shipbuilders to department store clerks, stopped working. The nation was paralyzed—no sector of the workplace was untouched. Yet, just thirty years later, the mainstream image of May '68 in France has become that of a mellow youth revolt, a cultural transformation stripped of its violence and profound sociopolitical implications. Kristin Ross shows how the current official memory of May '68 came to serve a political agenda antithetical to the movement's aspirations. She examines the roles played by sociologists, repentant ex-student leaders, and the mainstream media in giving what was a political event a predominantly cultural and ethical meaning. Recovering the political language of May '68 through the tracts, pamphlets, and documentary film footage of the era, Ross reveals how the original movement, concerned above all with the question of equality, gained a new and counterfeit history, one that erased police violence and the deaths of participants, removed workers from the picture, and eliminated all traces of anti-Americanism, anti-imperialism, and the influences of Algeria and Vietnam. May '68 and Its Afterlives is especially timely given the rise of a new mass political movement opposing global capitalism, from labor strikes and anti-McDonald's protests in France to the demonstrations against the World Trade Organization in Seattle.

For over forty years now, the French events of 1968 have been the focus of much attention both within France and beyond. While mai 68 is certainly seen as a watershed in the development of French society, a common narrative that portrays it in an increasingly reductive light has become prevalent. In fact it is less and less portrayed as the very serious nationwide crisis and largest strike in French history but more as a bon-enfant tantrum led principally by a spoilt generation of Parisian students intent on wreaking havoc during a period of much required – and today much longed for – political and economic stability. 2008 saw a continuation in the decennial commemorations that have been fundamental in shaping the doxa and thus furnished an excellent opportunity to assess any developments in how these events are represented, perceived and remembered. How and why has the common narrative come to dominate representations? What has been the impact on how the events are perceived by today’s youth? To what extent does this interpretation fall short of painting the entire picture? This study answers such questions by arguing that the memory of 1968 has been shaped and cultivated in such a way that undermines its true magnitude. Why this is the case, who benefits from the dominance of this consensus and to what extent the history of 1968 is retrievable are the questions that underpin Memories of mai 68: France’s Convenient Consensus.

The uprising of May 1968, during which tanks rolled onto the streets of Paris, was a radically defining moment in French intellectual life. It signalled the rise of 'new wave' cinema and the arrival of the 'post structuralist' literary-philosophy of Derrida, Foucault, and others. This is the first book-length study of May '68 in French fiction and film.

The multiple impact of the May 1968 events in France is here reviewed and analysed, initially through a narrative account of the events themselves and then through a systematic survey of the various manners in which they have been interpreted and reproduced in France. This covers successively political, social/sociological, and cultural texts - first-hand accounts along with works by political activists and academic social scientists - before moving to a consideration of fictional works (novels and feature films) dealing with or set during the events.

The events of 1968 have been seen as a decisive turning point in the Western world. The author takes a critical look at "May 1968" and questions whether the events were in fact as "revolutionary" as French and foreign commentators have indicated. He concludes the student movement changed little that had not already been challenged and altered in the late fifties and early sixties. The workers' strikes led to fewer working hours and higher wages, but these reforms reflected the secular demands of the French labor movement. "May 1968" was remarkable not because of the actual transformations it wrought but rather by virtue of the revolutionary power that much of the media and most scholars have attributed to it and which turned it into a symbol of a youthful, renewed, and freer society in France and beyond.

In the lean and anxious years following World War II, Munich society became obsessed with the moral condition of its youth. Initially born of the economic and social disruption of the war years, a preoccupation with juvenile delinquency progressed into a full-blown panic over the hypothetical threat that young men and women posed to postwar stability. As Martin Kalb shows in this fascinating study, constructs like the rowdy young boy and the sexually deviant girl served as proxies for the diffuse fears of adult society, while allowing authorities ranging from local institutions to the U.S. military government to strengthen forms of social control.

In this new biography, Andrew Knapp concisely dissects each of the major controversies surrounding General Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French during the Second World War and President of France from 1959 to 1969. From the beginning of de Gaulle’s military career in 1909 to an analysis of legacies and myths after his death in 1970, this study examines the path by which the French came to honour him as the greatest Frenchman of all time, and as the twentieth century’s pre-eminent world statesman. In each chapter, Knapp analyses de Gaulle’s participation in key events such as the development of France’s resistance against Nazi Germany, the decolonisation of Algeria, the birth of the French Fifth Republic, and the gigantic upheaval of May 1968. Simultaneously, this study questions de Gaulle’s actions and motives throughout his life. By exploring the justification of the contemporary ‘de Gaulle myth’, Knapp concludes by shedding new light on the influence of de Gaulle in the political culture of twenty-first-century France. Through careful analysis of primary sources as well as recent scholarship, this biography is an invaluable source for scholars and students of modern history, the history of France, political institutions, and international relations.

A new look at the debates which shook the world of French cinema in the aftermath of May 1968, and throughout the 1970s

As Europe has expanded its influence in world economic and political affairs, there has been an increased need to understand how Europe recovered from the devastation of World War II to become a major world player. This concise history offers a comprehensive overview of Europe's political, social, economic and cultural developments since 1945. J. Robert Wegs and Robert Ladrech balance a narrative of the major events and personalities of the post-war political scene with a critical assessment of key issues and themes, such as: - The development of the welfare state - European integration and the European Union - The Cold War - The rise and fall of the Soviet Empire - The political-economic turmoil in eastern Europe since 1989 - The place of Europe in the globalisation of the world's political-economic affairs The text also features further reading sections at the end of each chapter to aid more detailed study, and is enhanced throughout with tables, maps and illustrations. Written for students and general readers alike, this thoroughly revised, updated and expanded new edition is an ideal introduction for anyone with an interest in the history and politics of post-war Europe, east and west.