May 1968: Lessons for the struggle on campuses today

Inspired by the explosion of Palestine solidarity encampments in the United States, students across the world are organising similar actions to support the people of Gaza.

In Britain, ‘liberation encampments’ have already been organised in Newcastle, Manchester, Warwick, UCL, Leeds, and Goldsmiths, to name just a few. We expect this list will continue to grow, along with the number of participants.

There is clearly a groundswell of rage at Israel’s bloody massacre, and the complicity of our own politicians, bosses, and university administrators, who have a direct interest in maintaining the status quo.

Given the burning mood of anguish and desperation, the situation could transform itself very sharply.

Already, in the US, we’ve witnessed peaceful encampments attacked by riot police and Zionist thugs, garnering the attention and sympathy of wider layers of workers and young people.

While a violent pro Israel mob attacked the UCLA Gaza solidarity encampment, the police stood by, literally less than 100m away, and did nothing. The capitalist state. https://t.co/s6zCjpVnJ4

— Jorge Martin ☭ (@marxistJorge) May 2, 2024

Both there and in Britain, this movement could very easily spill out of campuses, and snowball into a wider mass struggle.

The Revolutionary Communist Party, alongside our comrades across the Revolutionary Communist International, is mobilising to support, and in some cases lead, these campus struggles.

We will put forward the need for fighting demands and tactics: Kick the profiteers off campus! For democratic control of university finances! For a mass appeal to workers and young people! For mass direct action to disrupt the war machine! Down with the Tories! Down with imperialism!

May 1968

For communists, the experience of past struggles represent a gold mine of lessons for today. Theory and history are our sharpest weapons in the class war.

One such period which has a great deal of relevance to the present movement is the French Revolution of May 1968. This was one of the mightiest revolutionary convulsions that the world has witnessed, which had the power to topple French capitalism altogether.

Riots-Paris-May-1968 — Almost instantaneously, the police clampdown on student protests provoked the outrage and disgust of millions of people.

As we can see today, the youth are often a barometer of the prevailing mood. And in the months leading up to May ‘68, a series of demonstrations and occupations took place at the Sorbonne University in Paris, reflecting the tensions building up in the depths of society.

Then, on 3 May (exactly 56 years ago), the police brutally attacked student protestors. The demonstration soon spiralled into a full-scale riot, complete with barricades, street-fighting, and hundreds injured and hospitalised.

Escalation

Almost instantaneously, this provoked the outrage and disgust of millions of people. Within days, the trade union leaders were pushed into calling a general strike. Hundreds of thousands poured out onto the streets of Paris. Soon, the movement would engulf the whole of France.

Within weeks – and despite very few people on the ‘left’ believing such a movement was possible – up to ten million workers were out on strike and occupying their factories and workplaces. Society was brought to a standstill.

Elements of workers control and management began to appear, showing the immense potential that the working class has to take power and run society for itself.

The situation completely slipped out of the hands of the ruling class. Even the President, General Charles de Gaulle, feared that the game was up.

And all of this was achieved without any lead from the reformist trade union ‘leaders’, nor the so-called ‘Leninists’ at the head of the Communist Party – which was, by the way, a mass organisation at the time.

In fact, these opportunist officials did everything they could to hold the struggle back, and would eventually betray the working class altogether.

What was missing throughout all of these tumultuous events was an established Marxist leadership, which could point the way forward, and link together the struggle of workers and students on the basis of a socialist programme.

Study the lessons

This isn’t the place to give a full, detailed history of these events. We have published a great deal of material elsewhere, including ‘The French Revolution of May 1968’ by Alan Woods, who experienced these events first-hand.

Given the clear parallels between 1968 and today, we encourage RCP members and readers of The Communist to undertake a detailed study of this rich revolutionary experience, beginning with the talk below, given by Alan Woods at the 2018 Revolution Festival in London.

As with today, the events in France were by no means isolated. At the same time, in Mexico, Pakistan, Ireland, the United States, and elsewhere, students were also at the forefront of mass struggles against imperialism, oppression, and exploitation.