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| 50th anniversary of May 1968 | |
|---|---|
| Name | 50th anniversary of May 1968 |
| Date | 2018 |
| Location | Worldwide |
50th anniversary of May 1968 The 50th anniversary of May 1968 marked a global series of commemorations, debates, exhibitions and protests recognizing the events of May 1968 in France and their international echoes in movements such as Prague Spring, Mexico 1968, Vietnam War protests, and student uprisings across United States, West Germany, and Italy. Official and grassroots responses in 2018 brought together political leaders, cultural institutions and social movements from Élysée Palace to the Sorbonne and from Musée d'Orsay to autonomous social centres. The anniversary prompted renewed engagement from historians, activists, artists and journalists over the legacy of figures like Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Gustave Flaubert (as cultural referent), Jean-Paul Sartre, and institutions such as Confédération générale du travail, Union nationale des étudiants de France and Palace of Versailles (for symbolic events).
May 1968 began with protests by students at the University of Paris campuses of Nanterre and the Sorbonne, triggered by confrontations involving Police Prefect of Paris forces and resulting in occupations, mass demonstrations and strikes involving unions like the Confédération générale du travail and political actors including French Communist Party and Socialist Party (France). Internationally, the unrest resonated with contemporaneous episodes such as the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests, the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City, and the uprisings that intersected with anti-imperialist struggles including opposition to the Vietnam War. Cultural and intellectual figures including Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and the student leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit became prominent in media coverage, while debates about reform and revolution engaged political institutions such as the Fifth Republic (France) and prompted reactions from the Gaullist Party and European governments.
Official commemorations in Paris included exhibitions at the Musée d'Orsay, programming at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and televised retrospectives featuring archival footage from outlets like ORTF and reporting by the Agence France-Presse. The Élysée Palace hosted roundtables bringing together former ministers from the Charles de Gaulle era, trade union leaders from the Confédération française démocratique du travail, and academics from institutions such as École normale supérieure and Sciences Po. Municipalities including Lyon, Marseille, and Nantes organised public panels with representatives of student unions like the Union nationale des étudiants de France and labor federations such as the Force Ouvrière. International commemorations in cities like Berlin, London, New York City, and Prague featured collaborations between museums, archives and universities including the German Historical Museum and Columbia University.
Artists and curators staged retrospectives referencing works by Guy Debord, Jacques Rivette, Chris Marker, and Jean-Luc Godard, while film festivals screened restored prints of films such as La Chinoise and Week End (1967 film). Exhibitions juxtaposed posters from groups like Situationist International with music linked to protest movements including recordings of Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and French chanson from Serge Gainsbourg and France Gall. Contemporary authors and playwrights produced new works engaging with 1968 themes, with publications from presses associated with Gallimard, Éditions du Seuil, and academic journals including Le Monde diplomatique and Télérama commissioning essays that invoked thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes, and Louis Althusser.
Political leaders and commentators debated whether May 1968 represented a failed revolution, a cultural watershed, or a catalyst for reforms in welfare states and labor law reforms inspired by accords such as the Grenelle accords (1968). Commentaries invoked trajectories of parties including the French Communist Party, Socialist Party (France), and newer formations like La France Insoumise and Rassemblement National to interrogate contemporary policy on labour, education and civil liberties. Intellectual debates referenced the legacies of Alain Badiou, Alexandre Herbier and other theorists, while trade unions assessed historical strategies and electoral consequences in light of more recent mobilisations against reforms by governments led by figures such as Emmanuel Macron.
Scholars from universities such as Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, University of Oxford, Harvard University and Sciences Po convened symposia reassessing archival sources from the Direction centrale de la sécurité publique and private papers of activists including Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Henri Weber. New monographs published by academic presses compared May 1968 with uprisings like the Prague Spring and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 while employing methodologies from historians such as Charles Tilly and social theorists like Pierre Bourdieu. Debates in journals including Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales and French Historical Studies surveyed continuity and rupture in labour movements, student mobilisation, and cultural politics, interrogating claims about long-term transformations in the Fifth Republic (France) and European social democracy.
The anniversary itself spawned street demonstrations by groups ranging from anarchist collectives and autonomous movements to organized labour federations opposing policy initiatives linked to Emmanuel Macron; counter-events by right-wing organisations including Front National affiliates and conservative civic associations also took place. Clashes occurred at occupations and marches near landmarks such as the Sorbonne and Place de la République, prompting interventions by Préfecture de police (Paris) and debates about policing tactics that referenced past confrontations with units like the Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité. Controversies arose over museum exhibitions accused by critics in outlets like Le Figaro and Libération of political bias, and over the participation of corporate sponsors tied to multinational firms.
The fiftieth anniversary renewed discussion of May 1968's influence on contemporary movements including Occupy Wall Street, Yellow Vest movement, student protests in Chile 2011–2013 protests, and global climate strikes associated with activists such as Greta Thunberg, as well as the organizational vocabularies of horizontality and direct action linked back to groups like Situationist International and May 68 activists. Debates about cultural revolution, pedagogy and institutional reform continued in academic programs at Université Paris Nanterre and activist schools inspired by autonomous spaces in cities like Barcelona and Berlin, ensuring that May 1968 remained a reference point for militants, intellectuals and policymakers across Europe and the wider world.