The conference was a day of discussions bringing together different generations of writers, researchers and activists to consider the political and cultural legacies of 1968, and their bearing on the future prospects for a more democratic, equal and participatory society. The aim was to help rekindle the intellectual excitement that characterised the political counter culture of the Sixties but focused on contemporary issues.
Their reflections on how the issues with which we have been dealing have changed over this period, and how our approach as researchers and activists has evolved in response. The aim is to unsettle accounts of the past, whilst mapping the patterns of continuity and change which mark our various fields of intellectual, creative and political endeavour and pondering what the future may hold.
In addition to the two plenary sessions, contributions are organised into a number of workshop themes, related to various fields of common interest while the panels represent a range of conceptual and generational perspectives. The morning sessions focus on what might be called the micro-politics of identity formation, in particular how coming of age stories have been restructured under the impact of de-industrialisation, globalisation and neo-liberalism. The afternoon sessions look at the social movements which have emerged in response to a profound crisis of representation in the contemporary body politid and explores their relation to the legacy of 1968.
View the entire program here.
Further information www.rethinking1968.today
Plenary Agenda Slides and Opening Plenary Talk
Closing Slides and Closing Plenary Talk
View the conference video