1968 and contemporary social theory 50 years later: social rebellion, fragmentation, or a new political culture?

Abstract

This article investigates how the events of 1968 resonated in Contemporary Sociological Theory, considering the 50-year anniversary of these events. In this sense, 1968 has been understood as an event of significant effects throughout the world, led initially by the students' movement, and which encompasses schisms in radicalism, new political-ideology configurations, criticism of Soviet socialism and the opening of a Third-World perspective in social struggles. Therefore, the event served as a basis for reflection for several theoretical formulations of Marxism, critical theory, structuralism, poststructuralism, and postmodern currents, each with its specific interpretation of the facts. By grouping these interpretations, three distinct approaches in sociological theory about these events emerge: rebellion, social fragmentation, and a new political culture of social movements. Therefore, as a reading hypothesis, we grouped the three interpretative perspectives, which fulfill a preliminary identification of the analyses performed in the last 40 years. Thus, we aim to construct a broad historical and sociological survey, in regard to the understanding of the events of 1968, focusing on how they resonate in the theoretical developments of the last decades. This survey also aims to investigate how the recent disputes around the meanings of the 1968 conflicts are presented in the “celebrations” of the 50-year anniversary, leading to disputes of affirmation and denial of the meanings of events in sociological theory.