ROUND TABLE ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENTUNREST IN PARIS 1968

Conference sponsored by the International Science Council. Conference papers.

In 1968 France had been ruled by General Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) forover 10 years. Around March 22nd student leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit startedwith demonstrations against the American intervention in the Vietnam War.After the demonstration some students where arrested by the police. Thismarked the start of more demonstrations and riots.

On May 3rd the Sorbonne university was cleared by the police. From thatmoment on there were demonstrations and riots nearly every evening in Parisand other cities all over France. On Friday May 10th after a day ofdemonstrations about 10,000 students spontaneously started setting upbarricades in the Quartier Latin. After failed negotiations with the studentleaders, the police cleared the streets through the night, causing hundredsof people to be hospitalised.

The trade unions called for a day of general strike and massive demonstrationfor Monday 13 May. Over a million people marched through Paris that day, andafter that strikes were all over France. People demanded the resignation ofthe government and president Charles de Gaulle. Big demonstrations were nowdaily and strikes committees were more and more taking over the power.

After threats of president De Gaulle to call for a state of emergency and tohave the army involved, the national union of students in the end calls offall street activity to avoid further clashes. Although De Gaulle was electedagain as president of France in April 1969 he retired soon after.

International Social Science Council (ISSC)

The ISSC is an international non-profit scientific organization with itsheadquarters in UNESCO House in Paris. ISSC was founded in October 1952,following a Resolution adopted at the VIth UNESCO General Conference in 1951.In 1972 the Council was transformed into a formal federation of eleveninternational disciplinary associations which now number fourteen. In 1992 anew constitution was adopted which provides for national and regional memberorganizations. The constitution was last amended in 1998, The supremesovereign body of ISSC is the General Assembly. Between its sessions, theExecutive Committee acts as a governing body of the ISSC.

The ISSC has as its aims and objectives 'the promotion of the understandingof human society in its environment by fostering the social and behaviouralsciences throughout the world and their application to major contemporaryproblems and by enhancing co-operation by means of a global internationalorganisation of social and behavioural scientists and social and behaviouralscience organisations, encouraging multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinaryco-operation among the members of the ISSC'.

One volume

OPEN

Transferred from BLPES mainlibrary

Printed handlistavailable

APPLY TOARCHIVIST