Global 1968, edited by A. James McAdams, the William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, and Anthony P. Monta, dean of the college and professor of English at Holy Cross College, is a unique study of the cultural revolutions in Europe and Latin America during one of the most influential years in the twentieth century. In this volume, distinguished historians, filmmakers, musicologists, literary scholars, and novelists address this challenge by exploring a specific issue—the extent to which the period that we associate with the year 1968 constituted a cultural revolution. These factors included new thinking about education and work, dramatic changes in the self-presentation of the Roman Catholic Church, government repression in both the Soviet Bloc and Latin America, and universal disillusionment with the United States.
The contributors to Global 1968 demonstrate that the short- and long-term effects of the cultural revolution of 1968 varied from country to country, but the period’s defining legacy was a lasting shift in values, beliefs, lifestyles, and artistic sensibilities. Jeremi Suri, author of The Global Revolutions of 1968, says, “The essays in Global 1968 are fresh, based on an engaging mix of scholarly research and personal autobiography. As a whole, the volume is a pleasure to read, filled with original histories and provocative arguments.”
This book follows McAdams’s earlier work to present interdisciplinary studies on the revolutions of 1968 to the Notre Dame community. In 2018, he helped organize the “1968 in Europe and Latin America” Conference at the University of Notre Dame. The event was sponsored by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and the Kellogg Institute for International Studies.
The conference addressed two themes: revolutions against old orders and revolutions for new societies. The conference offered various perspectives on this time period from distinguished intellectuals to host discussions on social and political divisions and artistic experimentations during this time. It was designed to address images of ideal societies and new forms of civic life, the articulation of new values, and a discussion about the lessons of the ’68 generation for the ’18 generation. The conference featured guest speakers such as Academy Award-Winning Director Volker Schlöndorff and Senator of the Republic of Chile Ignacio Walker.
You can learn more about the conference and watch videos of the guest speakers here.
Global 1968: Cultural Revolutions in Europe and Latin America is available in paperback and digital editions from the University of Notre Dame Press. For more information about the book, contact: Kathryn Pitts, pitts.5@nd.edu, 574.631.3267.
This story originally appeared here.