Dr. Beverly Kahn on 1968 and the Rise of the New Left
December 11, 2017
Remember 1968? If you do, you’ll recall it was the year of the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy; nationwide protests about everything from the Vietnam War to the second-class treatment of women; communes and long hair; The Beatles’ “White Album”; Black Power, and the first successful heart transplant.
Dr. Beverly Kahn, professor of political science, recently spoke about ’68 in her presentation, “The New Left in America and Europe: Challenges to Authority in Both Theory and Action.” She presented at “1968: Where Have all the Flowers Gone? Reflections on 1960’s Revolutions” – a conference held at Florence University of the Arts, Florence, Italy.
“It was an honor to have been invited to deliver the keynote address for an international conference focused on the tumultuous events of 1968,” said Dr. Kahn. “The opening session was held in the refractory of the majestic Church of Santa Croce in Florence.
“That setting aided in conveying the importance of my keynote message: The 1960’s was a decade of world-changing events. A crescendo of forces – led primarily by young people around the world – challenged authority, power structures, leaders, and older dominant ideologies – Marxist and democratic. 1968 was a particularly intense year that saw the collapse of a giant bulwark of societal norms and power structures.”
