What happened in May 1986–early 1970s ish era France

[PSOL]

Know that I don’t know exactly how to formulate this question in order to be specific, as I know next to nothing about the events in France during this time. My main questions are who were the players in the various protests and uprisings on all sides, what led to this revolution from both happening and failing, and what was the aftermath of all this? This will probably be in Q&A format as I ask specific questions further trying to get to a right answer. If what I’m asking is too broad, could I get various historiography reports from all sides in order to learn more as well? Thanks to whoever takes up such a task.

[PSOL]

Do we have any takers? Any suggestions to refine my original question?

[Beet]

You mean May 1968 right?

[PSOL]

You mean May 1968 right?

Yes...

[Cassandra]

I'm no expert, and don't have time atm for any depth, but offhand I can tell you that the ideas and slogans of the Situationists were prominent in the uprising. So that's one thread you might be able to pull if you're interested in the ideological climate of that time.

[PSOL]

I'm no expert, and don't have time atm for any depth, but offhand I can tell you that the ideas and slogans of the Situationists were prominent in the uprising. So that's one thread you might be able to pull if you're interested in the ideological climate of that time.

Ok? What were the situationists ideology and makeup anyhow?

[Cassandra]

I'm no expert, and don't have time atm for any depth, but offhand I can tell you that the ideas and slogans of the Situationists were prominent in the uprising. So that's one thread you might be able to pull if you're interested in the ideological climate of that time.

Ok? What were the situationists ideology and makeup anyhow?

The Situationist International were a sort of pan-European club of radical artists who were influenced mostly by Surrealism and Marxism. They were not, however, supporters of the Soviet Union, which they considered just as stifling to artistic expression as post-war capitalism. Guy Debord was their leading light in Paris (and in general--he ended up pushing most of the other interesting characters out of the International before dying of alcoholism). Raoul Vanigem is to me the more interesting Situationist; I highly recommend his book The Revolution of Everyday Life. That and Debord's Society of the Spectacle both came out in 1967 and were all the rage among intellectuals and students in Paris the following year. A lot of the iconic graffiti from May are phrases cribbed from these books.

That's all I remember off the top, I'd have to do some research to put together more of the kind of response you're looking for. Hope this is helpful though. In addition to the two books I referenced above, the website notbored.org is a very helpful repository of Situationist writings.

[Agonized-Statism]

I'm no expert, and don't have time atm for any depth, but offhand I can tell you that the ideas and slogans of the Situationists were prominent in the uprising. So that's one thread you might be able to pull if you're interested in the ideological climate of that time.

It was generalized unrest against the right-wing Gaullist government. There were two big groupings of leftist protesters. The whole thing started over student occupation protests linked to other counterculture protests worldwide, and the trade union confederations joined in with sympathy strikes. De Gaulle, an authoritarian (and fascist-lite in my opinion), cracked down with the police and things got ugly.

The workers and unions in alliance with the French Communist Party, IMO, were proto-Eurocommunists, meaning they were groups that decided to focus on labor issues in Europe only without considering the third world or social justice. This ideology was a product of the Soviets' "Socialism in One Country" days in the Stalin era, and a reaction to a post-WWII shift in the communist world away from Marx's original plan to establish communism in Europe before the third world. They weren't all onboard with the free love and other social causes that the other group was espousing, but they jumped on the chance to advance their cause.

The student groups were following the lib-left and anarchist counterculture groups like the Situationists Cassandra mentioned and can explain better than me (IMO, anti-authoritarian Marxism with a heavy focus on the artistic flair needed to erode traditional institutions and spread their message- seriously guys, why not just follow Mao Zedong Thought?). Unlike the French Communist Party and the unions, which were nominally pro-Soviet and anti-Chinese, the libertarian socialists and anarchists actively criticized both the USSR and China. There's a picture of graffiti from the protests out there somewhere responding to Mao's quote- "let a hundred flowers blossom; let a hundred schools of thought contend"- with "let my flower bloom". They weren't old-style socialists who wanted to establish, I dunno, "the Workers' Republic of France" necessarily. They wanted social change.

The difference between the two was largely generational. The former group wanted to address economic inequalities, the latter group confronted all inequalities. I never understood May '68 either until I understood the history and ideologies of leftism. You can think of it as a big-tent anti-government movement like the Yellow Vests today.

[Cassandra]

I'm no expert, and don't have time atm for any depth, but offhand I can tell you that the ideas and slogans of the Situationists were prominent in the uprising. So that's one thread you might be able to pull if you're interested in the ideological climate of that time.

The difference between the two was largely generational. The former group wanted to address economic inequalities, the latter group confronted all inequalities. I never understood May '68 either until I understood the history and ideologies of leftism. You can think of it as a big-tent anti-government movement like the Yellow Vests today.

This is a very important point. If I recall correctly, one of the pivotal moments which lost the students some support among striking union members and french people generally was a televised speech that two student leaders gave. Iirc they came off as petulant and out of touch, using language of the youth movement/new left that had an alienating effect on certain elements of the working class. I wouldn't contend that was what caused the uprising to fail by any means (to my understanding, the Paris police chief being a clever bastard played a pretty large role), but the speech certainly didn't help.

[PSOL]

Did the unions and PCF betray the demonstrations by signing a deal with the French government? What role did the PS have during this time?