Subvert life, transform society. The youth revolts of the sixties in the United States and France

Abstract

In a research project dedicated to the analysis and historical review of youth movements throughout the 20th century to the present day, the youth rebellion of the 1960s and early 1970s holds an ideological, political, and cultural significance that cannot be ignored. Over time, May 1968 has become an iconic date, although it has often been caricatured. In this work, we focus on characterizing that revolt in the United States and France. Beyond constructing a descriptive narrative of the events, we are interested in discussing the underlying currents found at the core of those protests, highlighting the role that artistic and cultural groups such as the Beat Generation or the Situationist International (SI) would play. In both cases, we will examine the most subversive elements in connecting social and political criticism with the construction of alternative ways of life that expressed a profound desire for social transformation. Some contemporary social movements continue to draw from these critical currents and events from that era as they contribute to shaping a rebellious and dissenting subjectivity. Revisiting the memory of those years provides a broader temporality to these social movements, both in terms of understanding the past and projecting towards the future, which is often limited to abstract considerations of liberation or emancipation.