Thursday, December 13, 2012

Paris 1968 Student Movement


Amanda Schneider
Philosophy 408/Gilliland
28 November 2012
Paris 1968 Student Movement
            Riots broke out in France in May of 1968 because the French Communist Party was suspected of plotting against the Republic (Frost).  The movement began as various strikes by students at high schools and colleges.  The protests at the University of Paris at Nanterre became so bad that the University closed on May 2nd, 1968.  Along with political changes, the French were rebelling for cultural changes, too (such as education, sexual freedom, and free love). 
            The Paris 1968 student movement relates to the poststructuralists because emotions and drives motivated the movement.  Emotions were important during the Movement because the hierarchies in society made students very angry.  To communicate to the students of that time, it was effective to appeal to their emotions because their reaction demanded change in society by demonstrating their anger.  The students rebelled against the imposed limitations by rioting and not giving in to the patriarchal hierarchy.  Sexual freedom and free love appealed to both the students’ emotions and drives.  The hierarchy in society told the students that there were distinct roles in society for each gender.  Women who wanted sexual freedom went against the “normal” roles and pursued what she really wanted to (such as a career), even if it was traditionally a “man’s job.”  Also, with the spread of birth control and contraceptives, women were able to ensure their future by being able to have sex without getting pregnant.  Also, sex was no longer only for making babies; a couple could have sex solely for pleasure. 
Derrida’s notion of deconstruction applies because the students identified and challenged the political and social hierarchies.  Such challenges consisted of not being a wage slave to one’s employer.  The quote, “the bosses need you, you don’t need them,” demonstrates external reading because it is disrupting the boss-employer hierarchy by arguing that the dominant term is also dependent on the marginalized one (Frost).  Also, women fought for jobs equal to men.  Due to birth control, a woman could be hired by a company and ensure that the company would not lose profit because she was at less risk of getting pregnant; therefore she would not have to take time off or leave due to pregnancy.
Another popular slogan of 1968 was, “read less, live more.”  This quote encouraged students to live life and realize that life was not found in a book, rather from experience.  Poststructuralists embraced chaos, and life is often chaotic.  Life was especially chaotic in 1968 because of the riots and protests.  Students involved with the protests had an especially exciting life because they did not know what the future held for them or their cause.  Reading books was not going to fix the problems in France, nor does it build effective leaders.  Only learning from life’s experiences will prepare one for future hardships in life. 
Aporetic logic applies to the 1968 student movement because it characterized the paradoxical and unstable relationship between the universal and singular.  The government and imposed status quo “norms” were the universal, and the students were the singular.  Without the singular, changing the universal would be impossible because if no one is there to challenge who/what already has power, those who have power want to keep power and will not be lowered unless the singular challenges them.  The employers lowered their boss’s power and women lowered the amount of power a man had over them. 
            Derrida’s concepts of deconstruction and aporetic logic applied to the Paris 1968 Student Movement.  The students, women, and workers recognized the social and political hierarchies in society which they no longer wanted to follow.  Riots and protests were conducted against the government to disrupt inequality by demanding equal pay, free love, and education reform.  

Works Cited

Frost, Martin, “French Riots May 1968”, 2012

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