Keith Flett 1968

Marx noted that the past weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living but that will be probably true for only a small minority of those who will be recalling and possibly celebrating the 40th anniversary of the events of 1968 that fall this year.

The events are worth celebrating. In the broadest sense 1968 marked the rebirth of all kinds of left-wing ideas and possibilities that had been dormant for decades. Of course, over time, a lot of what was thrown up did not stand the test of progress, perhaps particularly some of the lifestyle politics. But there will be few, even on the right one suspects, that would deny that changes in attitude around women’s rights and sexuality that date from this time were not and are not positive.

These assessments will no doubt be chewed over at much greater length in the months to come.

What interests me as an historian is the way that the 40th anniversary of 1968 will be used by those who were active at the time and who remain, in some sense, today.

Lord Triesman and Jack Straw come strongly to mind, both of whom were active in student politics 40 years ago. The latter never was and did not claim to be particularly left-wing but Triesman contributed to the Red Bases issues of New Left Review [No.50]- a theory that saw students as the vanguard of revolution. According to newspaper reports both men were recently joking about student activism in their youth.

This sort of thing has a long heritage in the labour movement. When the Chartist William Aitken wrote his memoir in the 1860s he was already a radical Liberal Party supporter. His memoir however showed a lifetime of activism travelling a long and unbroken path to his current Liberal politics. In fact Aitken only achieved this biographical feat by leaving out the moments of his past where he had been involved in militant Chartist activism.
One suspects that we may see some memoirs of 1968 constructed on a similar basis over the next year.

But there are people currently active who could provide a more reliable testament to the events of 1968. Daniel Cohn-Bendit- Danny the Red in 1968- is a Green member of the European Parliament. Cohn-Bendit was a revolutionary student 40 years ago and was deported from France to Germany for his pains. More recently he has been a significant member of the right-wing of the German Green Party, a supporter of imperialist war in the Balkans and Afghanistan and free market policies. Whether he will claim a heritage for his current positions in 1968 we shall see.

Tariq Ali remains active on the left and has been a consistent anti-imperialist and a chronicler of the events of 1968 in print. His actual role 40 years ago in terms of a presence on the streets may have been limited- the Government considering him dangerous enough to try and deport if he could be framed of law breaking. He certainly had a significant influence at the level of ideas so again his reflections will be awaited with interest.

However while 1968 was a year of a great upsurge of left-wing ideas and protest it was also the year, on 20th April 1968, when Enoch Powell made his racist ‘rivers of blood’ speech about immigration. On April 23rd a contingent of London dockers marched from the East End to Parliament in support of Powell.

I doubt though that the BNP will be celebrating 1968, in the way that the left can rightfully do.