Global Revolutionary Aesthetics and Politics after Paris 68

The year 2018 marked the fiftieth anniversary of May 68, a startling, by now almost mythic event which combined seriousness, courage, humor and theatrics. The contributions of this volumebased on papers presented the conference Does la lutte continue? The Global Afterlife of May 68 at Florida State University in March 2019explore the ramifications of that springtime protest in the contemporary world. What has widely become known as the movement of 68 consisted, in fact, of many synchronous movements in different nations that promoted a great variety of political, social, and cultural agendas. While it is impossible to write a global history of 68, this volume presents a kaleidoscope of different perceptions, reflections, and receptions of protest in France, Italy, and other nations that share in common a global utopian imaginary as expressed, for example, in the slogan: All power to the imagination! The contributions of this collection show that, while all social struggles are political, many lasting changes in individual mentalities and social structures originated from utopian ideas that were realized first in artistic productions and their aesthetic reception. In this respect the various protests of May 68 continue.