What was the 1968 movement? A lot has been said and written about the rise and fall of the time's politicized generation. The story of the desire for social revolution, the dashing of utopian hopes followed by retreat into the "private sphere" and the "march through the institutions" has indeed been told many times. What Silja Behre reveals here is how and why common interpretations of the '68 movement marking the public and academic discourse were established. She describes the concurrences concerning this stirring time's "true history" that were a political flop but cultural triumph. Who interprets such a history and manages its past? What socio-political ground did it stand on? Almost 50 years after the protests ended, the author shows that the movement's history is that of its fight for interpretation.
