| dc.description.abstract | This thesis is devoted to the development of a Foucauldian interpretation of the student protests of 1968. It employs Michel Foucault’s conception of resistance to develop an interpretation of the Parisian student protests of May 1968. In doing so, it aims to contribute to the contemporary historiography on the matter by providing a new interpretation. It utilizes an analysis of Foucault’s framework on resistance, to analyze parts of the causality and characteristics of the student protests. Particularly, the thesis will analyze a set of testimonies, posters and booklets that were published by the protesting students. It is deduced that parts of the causality of the student protests can be attributed to changes in the contemporary power-structures. Such changes are interpreted as changes in the French university-system that brought about the rise of the first student protests and consequent rise of police aggression. The students’ experiences of such changes played a substantial role in the development of resistance and brought about a particular discourse that gives insight in the ways in which the students protested. A part of this discourse is interpreted through an analysis of a set of posters that clarify the ways in which these former students perceived their context. From these posters, it is argued, that the students aimed to combat an authoritarian system that became increasingly consumerist, hierarchical, divisive and aggressive. The students opposed this context by developing a different discourse in which they played a role of liberators and aimed to develop a completely new structure in which no such power-relations were present. This interpretation gives insight into the ways in which resistance occurred and could be followed-up with further research to develop a further understanding of a Foucauldian interpretation of ’68. | |
