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Synopsis
The Paris student and worker uprisings of 1968 have been seen by many since as a fundamental societal rupture that allowed widespread changes manifest in later years. Skeptical of such claims, Seidman (U. of North Carolina- Wilmington) instead suggests that the events of 1968 should be seen in the context of short and long term continuities. He describes cultural change and conflict among the university students throughout the 1960s and looks at how students came into greater conflict with police forces. He then examines workers strikes following student challenges to state power, arguing that they were more about expanding the value of labor and less connected to the concerns of the street protestors than many have suggested. Finally, he examines state responses to these challenges, contending that the state had been weakened only momentarily. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Le Debat
Seidman's work is a solid and detailed piece of research based on the most divers sources and especially on new institutional archives that allow a greatly nuanced assessment, even a refutation of many received ideas about the events of May 1968.