So far in the course it seems that there are many similarities with our situation in the world and America currently and with the long ’68. I am interested in viewing these similarities in closer detail and really seeing the parallels that can be drawn between these two eras in time. I am also curious to see if we can use the long ’68 to predict what may possibly happen in 2020 and beyond. It seems to have been noticed already that history does repeat itself, so how come we were unable to stop this long ’68 from occurring again? Were there indicators that told us this is where we were headed? Would we have been able to stop this from happening again? Obviously Coronavirus came seemingly out of nowhere for many of us, but would we maybe have been able to handle it differently and perhaps better had we changed history earlier on? Throughout the course of this class I really would like to see these parallels in closer detail, and maybe make it so when this inevitably happens again, we can be ready and possibly have the power to prevent it.
3 Replies to “The Long ’68 and the Long 2020”
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I think that social changes happen because of certain mechanics. For example, if things have stayed the same for too long, some groups are going to look for change. Some mechanics may be analyzed so that similar things don’t happen in the future. We often talk about how we could have done more to prevent the coronavirus pandemic, but it is important to realize that we did do more. For example, vaccines are being developed faster than ever. However, some mechanics are harder to deal with. If the status quo remains for too long, people will push for changes. It doesn’t matter too much how much we have improved in terms of civil rights and racial inequalities, because as long as there is room to improve, people will advocate for it. Possible ways to prevent another long ’68 might be to create places to vent and push for change without violence. This certainly has been done to some degree, but several “cycles” of ’68 might be needed to fully resolve this issue.
Many of the recent blog posts regarding the repetition of history leave me feeling with a sense that the narrative of the world is never complete. This post sparked the thought: “What if 1968 never ended?” Yes there are causes and effects, actions and reactions, but is it possible that, like the “construction of difference” mentioned in today’s lecture, the process by which we have reached the present day should not be considered as having starting and ending points? Thinking of 1968 as a point on a timeline shows us how it fits into the historical narrative of our world, but thinking of it instead as one paint color in a “paint-by-number” allows one to think of the “Thing” in a light that can explain the arc to 2020. From 1968 to today, we have been filling in colors of the overall picture of human life and the world. How similar each color is (or, each movement/year) doesn’t detract from its addition to and effects on the history of the world.
I agree that the parallels between ’68 and our current year are extremely interesting, and worthy of examination. In my opinion, the end result of ’68 was somewhat underwhelming, and if that parallels with 2020 it would mean the efforts of those who oppose the radically conservative politics or who promote racial equality will only be met with pushback. Of course, this may be an overly pessimistic view of 2020’s progressive victories and/or a downplaying of the victories of 68ers. You mention that we could have examined history to potentially avoid the mistakes of ’68 in 2020, but I wonder if a repeat of it should really be avoided. Even if their methods were not always appropriate, surely the 68ers’ goals and their desire to reach them were admirable and worthy of replicating even today. That is to say, the conflict found in ’68 could be a necessary force if we want to make much needed changes today.