causes and effects!

Ah! I finally turned in this assignement after 2-3 weeks of delay. This is an assignment from a class called Language and Style conducted by Mr. Srikumar Menon in the first term. He teaches the Print Stream. An amazing prof! His classes were so inspiring! I hope I can be at least 0.5% of how great he is by the end of my journalistic career. Oh wait! There will be no end to my journalistic career. I'll always be a journalist!

We had been asked to write either the causes or effects of an event/topic. So, as I am obsessed with everything French, here is my attempt to analyse the events of May 1968:

Effects of May 1968 on French Society

The dictionary defines ‘revolution’ as ‘a single complete turn’. France has turned the world around twice, once in 1789 when the French overthrew the monarch to usher in democracy and the next time in 1968 when the country almost got rid of its Second World War hero and democratically elected leader, General Charles de Gaulle.

The May 1968 revolution is intriguing because like other movements in Europe, this movement was not limited to fighting for the cause of racial minorities. It cut across multiple ethnic groups and knew neither age nor class barriers. In spite of its sobriquet of ‘conservateurs’, the French society has always been one to question its social structures and change them whenever necessary. Obviously, these changes have taken place over a number of years.

The revolution began as a student protest in Nanterre University but ended up involving two-thirds of the French workforce. The chaotic situation escalated further to threaten de Gaulle’s term as President. Strangely, the revolution died down just as fast as it had arisen. De Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly and called for new parliamentary elections on June 23, 1968. This time around, he won with an even bigger majority.

The revolution was a culmination of several causes such as frustration over poverty, unemployment and de Gaulle’s conservative Government. The French society felt that it led an unfulfilled life despite the middle class enjoying all the basic needs. It wanted to break the shackles of its boring existence.

The May 1968 Revolution brought about very interesting effects on the education system in the country. According to Sandra McNally and Eric Maurin [Vive La Révolution: Long term returns of 1968 to the Angry Students], the Baccalauréat was disrupted by the Revolution. A student must pass this exam if he/she wants to pursue further education in a University. The students demanded easier exams as ‘they had spent a lot of time struggling for a better University’. Hence, more number of students passed that year than usual. With access to university education, they got better jobs and were paid higher salaries. Their children were found to have performed better at school. In this case, the positive effects of May 1968 spanned across two generations.

That summer also boosted the development of French feminism. In 1971, the Mouvement de Libération des Femmes [MLF] i.e. the Movement for Liberation of Women was started. In 1977, the Socialist Party succeeded in getting the Bill of Rights for Women passed. Abortion was legalised in 1975.

Prior to 1981, there were many anti-homosexual laws in the French legislation. The 1968 movement brought about wider political and social acceptance of all persons irrespective of their sexual orientation. In 1999, the Pacte Civil de Solidarité [PACS] i.e. the Civil Solidarity Pact was introduced which gave legal status to all unmarried couples, including homosexuals. The law now not only recognises a homosexual union, marriage or otherwise, but also gives the couple equal social security and housing rights.

Though the May 1968 movement has affected French society in several ways, an interesting outcome during the revolution itself was the series of slogans that the protestors used in the strikes. Some of them are given below:

· Nous ne voulons pas d’un monde où la certitude de ne pas mourir de faim s’échange contre le risque de mourir d’ennui.

- We don’t want a world where the certainty of not dying of starvation brings the risk of dying of boredom.

[This slogan shows how the French were bored of their comfortable lifestyles and wanted some ideal to follow.]

• On ne revendiqera rien, on ne demandera rien. On prendra, on occupera

- We will claim nothing, we will ask for nothing. We will take, we will occupy.

[This shows the rebellious spirit of the protestors.]

• L’alcool tue. Prenez du LSD.

- Alcohol kills; take LSD.

[This slogan shows how many youngsters moved to drug addiction: a negative effect of the revolution.]

May 1968- a single complete turn that affected the French society for generations to come.