In France, the United States, and the Federal Republic of Germany, 1968 witnessed the greatest protest mobilization of the postwar period. The protest movements in each of these countries displayed a specific self-perception and constitution but were similar in values, forms of action, mobilization strategies, and accomplishments. These similarities go beyond national characteristics and illustrate features common to all social movements. Everywhere, the protesters challenged the established institutions of Western democracy. They questioned the exclusive right of representation by established parties and intermediary groups, confronted those parties and groups with an opposing power and public presence that negated traditional structures of institutional authority, and criticized the basic assumptions of the postwar order. However one judges these phenomena historically, the spontaneous mobilization of protest movements within highly organized and affluent democratic societies requires explanation.

How, then, do we explain the events of May 1968 in France, for example, and the powerful effect they had? Different analysts have interpreted the May movement variously as a “new social conflict” (Touraine), a “generational revolt” (Morin), an “institutional crisis” (Crozier), and a “critical moment” in the development of society (Bourdieu). Just as divergent as these sociological constructions are the overall assessments of these events.