What did the `68ers read before they became authors themselves?A critical bibliography of selected writings for a „refresher course“
Many of the works that were to figure prominently in the thinking of the `68er generation literally had to be dug out, as they were no no longer in print and available in bookstores. They could only be obtained after laborious searching in second-hand bookstores. Some, such as Georg Lukács’ History and Class Consciousness (Geschichte und Klassenbewusstsein, 1923) or Wilhelm Reich’s Mass Psychology of Fascism (Massenpsychologie des Fascismus, 1933) were copied and distributed in pirate editions to make them available to a wider student readership. Other works, such as The Dialectic of Enlightenment (Dialektik der Aufklärung, 1944) by Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, were in print.
Although there is no universal and direct causal connection between theory and practice, it was of no small significance to the student protests of the late 1960’s what theoretical analyses they were based on. A deep need for unity between theory and practice - i.e for theoretical legitimation of emancipatory practice - was a central characteristic of these protests, and set off large-scale movements in search of this hoped-for intersection between theoretical perspectives and antiauthoritarian practice.
The following short critical bibliography is intended as an access tool, not as an introduction; it therefore does not need to fulfill the demands of completeness. It is deliberately selective and based on examples.
Although there is no universal and direct causal connection between theory and practice, it was of no small significance to the student protests of the late 1960’s what theoretical analyses they were based on. A deep need for unity between theory and practice - i.e for theoretical legitimation of emancipatory practice - was a central characteristic of these protests, and set off large-scale movements in search of this hoped-for intersection between theoretical perspectives and antiauthoritarian practice.
The following short critical bibliography is intended as an access tool, not as an introduction; it therefore does not need to fulfill the demands of completeness. It is deliberately selective and based on examples.
Dr. Marcus Hawel
is a journalist, sociologist and co-editor of the online magazine Sozialistische Positionen. He is currently working as a lecturer at the Institute for Political Science at Hannover’s Leibniz University.
is a journalist, sociologist and co-editor of the online magazine Sozialistische Positionen. He is currently working as a lecturer at the Institute for Political Science at Hannover’s Leibniz University.
Translation: Ani Jinpa Lhamo
Copyright: Goethe Institute, online editorial team
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February 2008
