‘Paris Today, Leeds Tomorrow!’: Remembering 1968 in Leeds

Max Farrar, Christian Hogsbjerg, Louise Lavender, Mike McGrath, Sarah Perrigo, Tom Steele

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    In 1968, protests against the old order swept the world. From the general strike in France and the student occupations in Paris to the Tet offensive in Vietnam, and from the Black Panthers in the US to the Prague Spring, the movement was contagious. In Britain a wave of student protests and sit-ins took place, most famously at the LSE and Hornsey College of Art but also at a wide range of other campuses and colleges, including at Leeds University. On 31 May 2018, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of ‘May 1968’, a meeting jointly sponsored by the Ford Maguire Society, International Socialism and Taking Soundings was held at the Swarthmore Centre in Leeds to remember what radical politics in 1968 in the city was like. The speakers at the meeting were all activists in 1968: Mike McGrath, Sarah Perrigo, Tom Steele, Lou Lavender and Max Farrar, and the meeting was kindly chaired by Gilda Petersen. This article brings together their recollections and reflections, with a transcript of some of the debate which followed. The introduction, editorial work, transcription and additional explanatory notes are by Christian Høgsbjerg.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)291-317
    Number of pages27
    JournalNorthern History
    Volume57
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 6 May 2020

    Bibliographical note

    This is the Author’s Original Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Northern History on 6/5/2020, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/0078172X.2020.1747723

    Keywords

    • 1968
    • Leeds
    • Vietnam
    • protest
    • social movements
    • students

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