The events that shook France in May 1968, starting with student protests over dormitory visitation rights and culminating in the largest general strike in twentieth-century Europe, still haunt our contemporary cultural, political, and social landscapes. To some, les événements constitute the beginning of manifold global emancipations and liberations, while to others they mark the start of a long, slow decline in morals and values. More recent upheavals, such as the Arab Spring and the election of French President Emmanuel Macron, are consistently evaluated against the yardstick of May 1968. Conflicts that seemed well-defined and destined back then to last have all but evaporated now, while strange new varieties appear every day.

This interdisciplinary conference is hosted by King’s College London in partnership with the Université Paris Diderot, the Institut Français du Royaume-Uni, the Embassy of France, and the National Archives, May 2-5, 2018.

This conference brings together artists, scholars, and witnesses from the UK and France with a view to interrogating and evaluating May 1968 in 2018. How has the revolution aged? How have the intervening five decades refracted the histories, identities, memories, and representations of May 1968? Which languages and media help us make sense of its legacies? What frameworks do we need to think through its ongoing appropriations? Or is it time to forget May 1968 and move on?