The March 22nd Movement

For class on Tuesday, we had to analyze “The March 22nd Movement” which was a student revolt that occurred outside the University of Nanterre in May 1968 in France. As stated in this reading, the student revolt was established with the purpose of improving their working conditions at the university. This reading touches on various aspects of the nature of the movement, but the one I want to focus on for discussion is the aspect that the movement was a politicized one. The movement itself was one that as the reading states was built upon non-union topics. But given that this was a fully politicized movement and many previous politicized movements proved to fail (*cough* the French Revolution *cough*) how successful can this movement be considered? And how can these students of Nanterre ensure that the changes that they achieve are not simply a in the moment change but instead a long term one?

A Good Rallying Cry?

When reading have the assigned have pages of 1968 a student generation in revolt, one line particularly stood out to me. This line was in the 2nd to last paragraph of page 144. The line was “students are the Jews of today”, this was a rallying cry as the students felt like they were being oppressed as the Jews were during World War Two. A personal fact about me is that I have an Aunt who works for the Holocaust museum. Last year the museum published an article calling people to stop using Holocaust analogies to describe the politics of modern times. My question is, do you think it was a good move for the students to compare themselves to the Jews during World War Two? Do you think people would be more likely to support their cause after hearing this statement?

https://www.ushmm.org/information/press/press-releases/why-holocaust-analogies-are-dangerous

Situationism

In this chapter we are presented to a new form of practice, Situationist Practice. Situationism revolved around the artistic and creative sphere when it was first put into movement. Soon after, their conviction and drive for meanings began to change the direction of the movement itself. One of the biggest focuses for Situationists was the study of non-alienated life. However, as noted in the text, the movement itself hit a standstill and in order to speed up the process, situationists began to create scenarios for anyone that was willing to listen to what it is that they had to say with regards to non-alienated life. At the time, it was considered an absurdity what situationists were promoting, but I wanted to ask the class this: If you were to listen to a situationist, would you be skeptical about life as well? Or would you need more hard found proof? And what would you say to counter the Situationists belief in their movement?

Lettrists and Situationists Tactics

On page 11, the text mentions that both the Lettrists and the Situationists needed to do something bigger to get an audience and attention. Do you think their tactics worked? Is putting on a “bigger show” making a strong statement or is it doing the opposite?

Rights of Man and of the Citizen

Even though it says 1600s, it is still fitting for the 1700s-1800s (I just found it on my Instagram feed). This would’ve went well with my editorial presentation or back when we were actually in this time period, but I thought I should still share it. 🙂

MARLON BRANDO IS A COMMUNIST! (and other wild ideas)

Today’s reading gives us a brief overview of the fundamentals of the 1968 Youth Protests. While we spent most of our time right after World War II and in the 1950s, I found myself really interested in the idea of protesting for the ability to protest. We are told on page 26 that, “For the most part, in the late 1950s the spirit of rebellion remained unfocused, diffused, and non-specific. Symptomatic for the state of affairs was the following exchange in the cult film The Wild Ones. When Marlon Brando, the leader of a biker gang, was asked: ‘What are you rebelling against?’, he answered: ‘What have you got?'”.

My questions are simple: What is interesting to you in this chapter? I know that I am madly in love with the title communist being assigned to Brando because they could not find a better way to summarize “‘radical’, ‘unorthodox’ , ‘anti-authoritarian’ , or ‘uncompromisingly oppositional'” (30). Other food for thought, you probably know someone who was in their teens or twenties in the 50s and 60s, what do you think those people where doing? We finally reached a part of history were we personally know people who lived threw it!

Also, here are The Beatles doing their thing. I was looking for a meme, but could not find one.

The Chains of Conformity

On page 15 we are given the main goal of the situationist movement that being “to create situations in which powerless individuals have control over there daily lives.” This is obviously a very big goal to try to achieve. On page 8 there is a reference to the cult of celebrities and how we worship it as a way to fill holes in our own lives. In today’s society to you believe popular entertainment is still all encompassing in this way? Do you believe that some are powerless to change there situation in modern day society? It seems these problems are very relevant today but you will certainly get a different answer depending on who you ask.

The June Days

In Chapter 9, there is an interesting quote that caught my attention. Tocqueville says, “Another point that distinguished it from all other events of the same type during the last sixty years was that its object was not to change the form of the government, but to alter the organization of society” (136). Since this is a first-hand account, I don’t want to diminish or disregard this opinion, but I am not sure how much I agree with this. To me government is a part of “the organization of society.” Even if you argue against that idea, isn’t it safe to say that past conflicts in France were strongly influenced by class divisions. What are your thoughts on this?

Addressing the demands of the Hungarian People

For class we had to analyze the primary source regarding the Hungarian Government addressing the issue of demands by the Hungarian People. In this address, the issue of the Majesty refusing and or preventing the development of a constitutional system in Hungary is brought to light. One of the first tasks that is addressed is that the Hungarian Government needs to begin to “alleviate the burdens of the peasantry” (420). This includes granting political rights to Hungarian People and reforming the military as a whole. Given these measures that the Hungarian People have proposed, it is important to note that they are all considered to be aid to the constitutional progress of the country and the elevation of the moral and material condition of the country (420). Given these demands, the question that I would like to pose for discussion is that is it necessary for military reform to be at the front of constitutional progress? Is it because the military has established enough power over the peasantry and the country that it has begun to bring into question the safety of the country?

Another National Song!

We were given the lyrics of “The National Song of Hungary, 1848” for class this week, and I would like to take a moment and briefly compare the lyrics of this national song to “La Marseillaise” which we listened to in the second week. Here is a stanza from each:

La Marseillaise:

To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions
Let’s march, let’s march
That their impure blood
Should water our fields.

The National Song of Hungary, 1848:

A miserable wretch is he
Who fears to die, my land, for thee!
His worthless life who thinks to be
Worth more than thou, sweet liberty!
Now by the Magyar’s God above
We truly swear,
We truly swear the tyrant’s yoke
No more to bear!

Now, this might be obvious but what are the similarities of these pieces? I definitely notice that there is a call to action in both (To arms, citizens! / We truly swear the tyrant’s yoke
No more to bear!
). However, I think they are fundamentally very different. Do you agree? How do you think your interpretation is affect by revolutionary outcomes?

Here is another meme:

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