Firstly, what was going on for young people in the
1960s in Paris? In 1906, Paris had a student population of 15,000 but by 1968
there were 160,000. During this same time period, the average age of
menstruation fell from 17 to 12 and the average age of marriage rose because of
better food and quality of life but this led people sexually frustration.
Secondly, what were the reasons the Paris students
felt their only option was to revolt? Students had to put up with horrible
conditions with packed classrooms and little facilities and the length of time
it took to get a degree had increased. Therefore, it would only be worthwhile
if they would get a job at the end of it but in 1968, 52 percent of students
were afraid of not getting a job after they graduated. This satisfaction and
fear led them to take drastic action.
It first began in Antony before 1968, when the male
and female students were not allowed to mingle at night so in 1962 the
residents destroyed a lodge that allowed security to control visits to the
female halls. The security guards then started to target the African men which
sparked a mass occupation in protest. Eventually this led to the directors
tolerating men sleeping over in January 1966 and in November 1967 all the halls
of residence in Paris followed suit.
This sparked the students of Nanterre to also take
action so in March 1967 male students occupied the female halls of residence. However,
the minister of education refused to consider changing the rules. Matters
dramatically deteriorated when in the French government proposed cuts to places
and make the selection more rigorous for the school year of 67-68 (they wanted
to have less working class students, the people they believed to be the trouble
makers). This caused the students to launch the largest strike in the history
of the university. On 6 May 1968, 20,000 students gathered in the Latin Quarter
to protest against the chancellor with each night getting worse. On the night
of 10/11 May 1968, the police assaulted the barricades using tear gas. 400 people
(including 274 police) were injured and over 521 protestors were arrested. Of
the 521 protestors 54 percent were not even students which suggests how
important the fight was for ordinary young people not just students.
What did the students achieve? Of the 160,000 students
in Paris at the time over half of them were involved in some way in the May ’68
movement this suggests its importance. It also led to the National Assembly
passing the university reform legislation in November 1968.
Protests are still being used today to help students
to get reform. This was evident when students held a march in the streets of
London in November 2017 to protest against the funding for university
education.[2]
By Alethea Coalwood
[1]Ingrid
Gilcher-Holtey, ‘France’ in Klimke, Martin and Joachim, Scharloth. 1968 in Europe: A History of Protest and
Activism, 1956-1977 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), pp. 111-124
(p. 111).
[2] Harrison Jones, ‘London student
march calls for rich to be taxed to fund free education’, The Guardian, (15
November 2017), https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/nov/15/london-student-march-calls-for-rich-to-be-taxed-to-fund-free-education (accessed 22 December 2017).
