Spectacle, spaces and political change: 1968 and now

Fifty years on from 1968, the moment seems right, therefore, to think about the relationship between disruptive protests, politics, and social change more broadly, in 1968 and now. This was a moment when the politics of the spectacular, the reclamation of space, and a general sense of disruption came to the fore. 1968 was swiftly mythologize as a moment of disruptive change, though in fact people should think of a 'long 1968' spanning several years. One historian has written of the 'euphoric anti-authoritarian thrust of 1966-1972'. This moment is remembered as a spectacle of pure liberation. This year's 50th anniversary will be marked by all the familiar images. But 1968 was also produced and reproduced as a spectacle too: images of militancy in Mexico City, Chicago, the Sorbonne, Bolivia and Belfast drew on and referred to one another for collective, reciprocal force.