Julian Bourg - From Revolution to Ethics, Second Edition: May 1968 and Contemporary French Thought

FROM REVOLUTION TO ETHICS

May 1968 and Contemporary
French Thought

JULIAN BOURG

Second Edition

McGill-Queens University Press 2017

ISBN 978-0-7735-5045-2 (paper)

ISBN 978-0-7735-5246-3 (ePDF)

ISBN 978-0-7735-5247-0 (EPUB)

Legal deposit fourth quarter 2017

Bibliothque nationale du Qubec

First edition 2007

Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free (100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.

Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. Lan dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de lart dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Bourg, Julian, 1969

From revolution to ethics : May 1968 and contemporary French thought / Julian Bourg. Second edition.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-0-7735-5045-2 (paper). ISBN 978-0-7735-5246-3 (ePDF).

ISBN 978-0-7735-5247-0 (ePUB)

1. Social change France History 20th century. 2. Social ethics France History 20th century. 3. France Moral conditions History 20th century. 4. France Intellectual life 20th century. 5. Philosophy, French 20th century. 6. Postmodernism France. 7. Feminism France History 20th century. 8. General Strike, France, 1968. 9. Riots France Paris. 1. Title.

Typeset by Jay Tee Graphics Ltd. in Sabon 10/13

I owe my deepest gratitude to my family mom, dad, Jonathan, Kristen, and Steve and my teachers Susanna Barrows, the late Amos Funkenstein, Mary Gluck, Carla Hesse, Martin Jay, Randolph Starn, and the late Bernard Williams.

Colleagues and students at Washington University in St Louis, Bryn Mawr College, and Bucknell University helped move the manuscript along in a variety of ways. Among many, I would like to mention John Bowen, Howard Brick, David Ciepley, David Del Testa, John Enyeart, Ignacio Gallup-Diaz, John Hunter, Gerald Izenberg, Martin Jacobs, Madhavi Kale, John Kirkland, Kalala Ngalamulume, Linda Nicholson, Leslie Patrick, Michael Payne, Gary Steiner, Ann Tlusty, Sharon Ullman, Martha Verbrugee, Richard Waller, and Steven Zwicker. For interventions, I thank MQUPs anonymous readers, James Bernauer, Richard J. Bernstein, Gary Genosko, Adam Gopnik, Lynn Hunt, Stanley Hoffmann, Gene Irschick, Edward McGushin, Jeffrey Mehlman, Peter Sahlins, Jerrold Seigel, and Richard Wolin. I am indebted to the editors and staff at McGill-Queens University Press, especially John Zucchi, Jonathan Crago, and Joan McGilvray.

In France I was fortunate to speak with a number of people who generously offered their memories and analyses of May 1968 and the 1970s. Herv Hamon, Liane Mozre, Franoise Picq, and Jean-Franois Sabouret were repeatedly generous with their time and resources. I was also able to speak with Miguel Abensour, Cathy Bernheim, Andr Burguire, Monique Canto-Sperber, Jacques Capedevielle, Roland Castro, Christophe Charle, Jean Daniel, Rgis Debray, Daniel Defert, Gil Delannoi, Vincent Descombes, Anne Doll, Jean-Paul Doll, Franois Dosse, Genevive Fraisse, Marcel Gauchet, Gisle Halimi, Marc Hatzfeld, Christian Jambet, Jean Lacouture, Claude Lefort, Jacques Le Goff, Jean-Pierre Le Goff, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Bruno Latour, Michael Lwy, Robert Maggiori, Gilles Martinet, Jean-Luc Nancy, Pierre Nora, Michelle Perrot, Jean-Claude Polack, Roger-Pol Droit, Christophe Prochasson, Danielle Rancire, Jacques Rancire, Ren Remond, Nadja Ringart, Pierre Rosanvallon, Pierre Schapira, Ren Schrer, the late Laurent Schwartz, Paul Thibaud, Olivier Todd, Alain Touraine, the late Pierre Vidal-Naquet, and Michel Winock. Robert Misrahi responded to questions by mail. I thank them all for their chaleur.

As well as being indebted to the libraries at the institutions mentioned above, I owe a great deal to the Bibliothque de documentation internationale contemporaine (University of Paris-X), the Bibliothque Marguerite Durand, the Bibliothque nationale de France, the Centre du documentation of the Mouvement franais pour le planning familial, Editions Grasset, and the Institut National dAudiovisuel. Particular thanks go to the Institut Mmoires de ldition contemporaine and Jos Ruiz-Funes. This project would not have taken shape and been completed without support from the following: the Fulbright Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation; at Berkeley, The Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities, the History Department, and the Institute for International Studies; the Mellon Foundation, which supported both an initial travel grant and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Interdisciplinary Studies at Washington University in St Louis; and Bucknell University, which provided late and invaluable sponsorship. Thanks to Berghahn Books for permission to republish a version of that appeared in Axel Schildt and Detlef Siegfried, eds., Between Marx and Coca-Cola: Youth Cultures in Changing European Societies, 19601980 (New York: Berghahn Books, 2006). Abby Miller, Deirdre Moran, and especially Sam Brawand helped inestimably with the bibliography. Jane McWhinney, a superb reader, worked wonders with the final text.

I cannot express to the following what I hope they already know. On that side of the pond, Jean-Yves Blum Le Coat, Julie Chansel, Fabienne Couvert, Paul Crouzet, Maxime Dahan, Andrea Dillon, Rosalie Foucard, Miguel Gomez, Julien Goodman, Jean-Pierre Haget, Michelle Hoffman, Charlotte de lEscale, Rachel Levieux, Jessica Lundgren, Arnaud Lebassard, Stphanie Lebassard, Karine Martin-Haget, and Martine Zejgman. On this side, Charlotte Avant, Alisa Berger, Gentle Blythe, Beth Bromley, Josh Burke, Judy Daniels, Michael DAndrea, J.P. Daughton, Shea Dean, Henry Elsesser, Kath Elsesser, Amy Garland, Dan Geary, Sarah Houle, Nate Johnson, Sara Moyn, Danielle Merida, Karen Panitch, Dave Radke, Amy Reticker, Roberta Ricci, Richard Roston, Mack Starks, Erich Strom, Jennie Sutton, and Amy Symons. Elizabeth Durden took certain chapters by the horns. I have learned many things from Sam Moyn. Vronique Andr gave more than she should have for this project; je serai toujours reconnaissant.

This book is dedicated to those who come next. Among others, Sarah Riley, Evan Riley, and Will Riley, as well as Finley Symons Burke, Margaux Dahan, Mahealani DAndrea Daniels, Emma Gianni Ricci De Lucca, Ellie Elsesser, Hank Jr Elsesser, Wilbur Elsesser, Flix Legrand, Benjamin Martin, Juliette Martin, Lily Moyn, Madeleine Moyn, Nathaniel Panitch-Daughton, Henry Panitch-Daughton, Dylan Reticker Radke, Carmen Rafanell, and Rose Roston.

On days when theory grows grey, you keep green lifes golden tree.