
The Formation of the Student Movement
May ‘68 is remembered more for the student movement than it is for the general strike of ten million workers. However, the student movement can only be properly understood in reference to the growing contradictions in the educational systems of all capitalist societies, and the crisis of imperialism as symbolized by the Vietnam War. As … Continue reading The Formation of the Student Movement

The PCF and the Party Form
A version of this essay was originally published in the Negation Magazine, “Specter of the Party” dossier. The party-form is one of the defining themes of May ‘68. After all, this was a situation where a revolutionary movement was pushing for revolutionary change, where an entire country was paralyzed by the largest general strike in … Continue reading The PCF and the Party Form

The Events of May 68
A version of this essay was originally published in the Negation Magazine, “Specter of the Party” dossier. May ’68 was the largest mass movement in French history, the biggest strike in the history of the French workers’ movement, and the only “general” insurrection the overdeveloped world has known since World War II. It was the … Continue reading The Events of May 68

Introduction: Interpreting May ’68
Why does it always seem to be France, and Paris specifically, where tensions explode? Is there something in the water that drives people to revolutionary action? To make the sewers flow with the blood of tyrants? The French Revolution saw the masses guillotine the King and Queen in the streets of Paris. The Paris Commune … Continue reading Introduction: Interpreting May ’68