The Long ’68

Abstract

The decade-long revolution known as May ’68 is commonly framed as a political protest radiating out from European and North American universities. However, much is gained by instead viewing May ’68 within the context of both anticolonial struggle and the emergence of what Wallerstein terms “the world university system.” Understanding student protests within the context of anticolonial struggle, including within African universities, reveals the extent to which the neoliberal university we inhabit today is the product of a profound counterrevolution designed to undermine the promise of the university as a site of radical and anticolonial transformation.