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Capitalism, crisis and critique : reassessing Régis Debray's ‘modest contribution’ to understanding May 1968 in Light of Luc Boltanski and Ève Chiapello's Le nouvel esprit du capitalisme
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Le Goff, Philippe (2014) Capitalism, crisis and critique : reassessing Régis Debray's ‘modest contribution’ to understanding May 1968 in Light of Luc Boltanski and Ève Chiapello's Le nouvel esprit du capitalisme. Modern & Contemporary France, 22 (2). pp. 231-251. doi:10.1080/09639489.2013.845145 ISSN 0963-9489.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09639489.2013.845145
Abstract
In 1978 Régis Debray argued that, rather than threatening to overthrow capitalism, the student and worker revolt of 1968 actually strengthened the mechanisms of capital accumulation in France. Today the historical significance of May 1968 continues to generate much debate and scholarly interest, yet Debray's controversial thesis is largely absent from contemporary accounts of May's impact on post-1968 socio-economic and political change. Adopting the theoretical framework of Luc Boltanski and Ève Chiapello's Le nouvel esprit du capitalisme, this article shows that Debray's work correctly highlights the ability of post-1968 capitalism to appropriate the critiques of May. In certain respects, Debray offered a prescient analysis of capitalism's ‘new spirit’ as later described by Boltanski and Chiapello. The article also explores some of the political and theoretical implications of a grave anti-capitalist threat being paradoxically turned into a source of capitalist strength. While highlighting the notable shortcomings in Debray's argument, particularly its deterministic approach, the article suggests that Debray's stimulating analysis of May 1968 instructively reveals the importance of understanding and explaining capitalism, crisis and critique together.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DC France | ||||||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > French Studies Faculty of Arts > School of Modern Languages and Cultures |
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| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Student movements -- France -- History -- 20th century, Riots -- France -- History -- 20th century, Radicalism -- France -- History -- 20th century, Debray, Régis, Capitalism -- Social aspects | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Modern & Contemporary France | ||||||||
| Publisher: | Routledge | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 0963-9489 | ||||||||
| Official Date: | 2014 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 22 | ||||||||
| Number: | 2 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 231-251 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1080/09639489.2013.845145 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 20 February 2018 | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 20 February 2018 |
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