1968 – Paris, Prague and Beyond Flashcards
What happened in 1968?
There was a cultural revolution/ a global phenomenon of protests.
They were transnational.
The reasons for widespread protests? And who was involved?
Students played prominent role, it was a student phenomenon.
The baby boom led in part to overcrowding. There was also more availability for public education but there was not sufficient investment in that infrastructure to accommodate these people/ invest in new attitude of ‘old’ teachers. Education part of what people were upset about but not most important.
Intellectuals structured the protests, they gave ideas, they didn’t make protests but played a role to articulating ideas floating around to give a precise voice to concerns they already had.
E.g Marcuse a German intellect who was influential role for students in America. His book ‘one dimensional man’ 1965 asks us to question values of industry society in east and west (cap and com). This was influential in west Germany context and US, there was a transnational link.
Vietnam protests?
There was a transnational mobilisation of protest. Perceived as glaring injustice that needed to rectified. Kennedy was involved and sent advisors to south Vietnam. The war is not won and Johnson settled with the peace agreement that communist north takes capitalist south.
Why did Vietnam motivate people to protest?
It was a poor peasant country that was bombed with most sophisticated weaponry and techniques (e.g poison).
It was seen as evil and motivated people to protest.
So was the cold war a collection of protests?
Yes.
1968 protests were essentially revolting against cold war, and the restrictions it placed on people who wanted to espouse left wing views in capitalist west and right wing views in communist east.
There were expectations the leaders like JFK couldn’t fulfil and so, protests on street and forced them to engage in détente.
What was the medias role?
Mass media TV became important, they could propagate a kind of message through direct and indirect contact that makes it a global phenomenon.
What is participatory democracy?
It refers to individual participation by citizens in political decisions and policies that affect their lives.
There was a sense of shared values around term ‘participatory democracy’. There was a generational change as people had not lived through ww2, so miseries/sacrifice was uncommon. The generation lived in relative affluence to post-materialistic concerns.
What happened with the assassination of MLK?
The power movement rising in parallel to the old fashion civil right movement lost further with his death.
When did the Great proletarian cultural revolution begin?
1966
Mao backs student protests as a means of purging the party and reassert control over the communist party. This peaks 1967-8
Did the proletarian revolution have any other influence or symbolic importance?
The similarities generate interest among western students who take it up as symbols.
There was a sense people were eager to attach themselves to symbols of revolution whether or not they understand them. They were not naïve but they took symbols from another context and used them their own context hence why EU ‘maoism’ is different.
What happened at Prague spring?
Dubcek wanted to legitimise his rule by relaxing censorship to booster own popularity.
It was known as ‘socialism with a human face’.
This generated a bad response from communist Soviet Union. It resulted in a warsaw pact invasion 21 aug, but it was a none violent resistance to Soviet Union
What was a belief about terrorism at the time?
Some believe terrorism was required for revolution to occur.
What was popular subjects?
New socialist movement Women’s liberation Lesbian/gay liberation Environmentalism Human rights Peace Not connected to 1968 riots, these are next articulation of what protest is and what it will become.
So was the 1968 protest oragnised?
No it was transnational, not an organised movement only some direct contact, identification similarity, sympathy and solidarity.
It did not result in a success political revolution, but had long term cultural changes that also had politcal consequences.
Did it have any long term changes/ legacy?
There is only a loose relationship between events and the long-term change which 1968 is seen to represent. It became a lasting point of reference for subsequent protests and revolutionary movement by effecting the way people understand other revolutions.
