Promises of 1968: Crisis, Illusion and Utopia

In Search of a New Left

dick Howard In Search of a New Left officially, i left the University of Texas for Paris in the summer of 1966 as a fulbright scholar. What i wanted in fact to learn was how to make a revolution—or at least to understand the marxist theory that had been identified with this skill. i had taken part in the civil rights movement, and demonstrated against the war in Vietnam; but both of these movements seemed to be caught in the trap of using the language of liberalism against the liberal system. What was needed instead, it seemed, was a framework that would permit a radical transformation of the liberal system; not just racial integration and global peace but a new and superior form of equality that would make liberty real. Why study marxism in france? i did not know at the time that french marxists had made few contributions to marxist theory, although i would learn quickly that beneath their rhetorical manipulation of concepts, there was a dogged dogmatism. indeed, that is what permitted them to manipulate so easily. What captivated the mind of this young American was the contrast between our liberal revolution, which did not even abolish slavery, and daring attempts in france to pass from 1789 to 1793, from political rights to socio-economic equality , already anticipating what would come in 1917… only to disappear under the weight of a bureaucracy. finally, there was the contrast between Anglo-American ordinary language philosophy that was deliberately apolitical (as John mcCumber shows in Time in a Ditch1 ) and what we called “continental ” philosophy. This was reinforced by the fact that translations of 1 John mcCumber, Time in a Ditch: American Philosophy and the McCarthy Era (evanston, iL: Northwestern University Press, 2001). i4 Promises.indb 55 2010.10.18. 14:30 56 Promises of 1968 marx were easily available in french, whereas they were only beginning to appear in english. my three volumes of Capital (plus Theories of Surplus Value) had been published in moscow; only Volume one was easily available from the modern Library classical series. With these premises, i thought that i could combine the heritage of the old Left with the virtues of the new, going beyond liberalism without losing the liberties it claimed to protect. After some adaptation, linguistic and social, i found myself a room in the dormitory at the recently opened Nanterre campus, where i set out to read Capital. my window overlooked the shanty town close to campus, from which arose a yellow smoke attesting to the misery of the inhabitants of its shacks; but that bidonville remained a terra incognita . i did, however, continue protesting the war in Vietnam. This drew me to the attention of an underground organization that had been created by former militants against the war in Algeria, who had maintained their radical goals, deciding now to work with American deserters. Although they taught me some of the techniques of underground work, my contribution was minimal. i was not convinced that radical change could come from clandestine action. But i still wanted radical change. The anti-war protests escalated; on march 22, the students at Nanterre occupied the administration building. General assemblies of the student body had often seemed to me confused and dogmatic. i remember one in which a fierce debate embroiled proponents of a resolution , over whether it should support “the peasants and workers” or “the workers and peasants” struggling in some country few of us knew. At issue, i think, was the “scientific” view that only workers could make a true revolution, which meant that the peasantry had to remain subordinate to their leadership, even in agricultural countries where the working class was tiny. Then, at a meeting on April 2, i heard a language free of the dogmatism of the a priori revolutionaries. something had happened. People were talking with one another, not looking for signs of the future course of World History. They sounded like my friends from the civil rights movement. After the morning’s General Assembly, the students formed working groups. i proposed a tactic i had tried in the United states: the creation of free universities, where we who wanted to learn for ourselves could escape the dominance of the “system.” This declaration of autonomy would make possible an education for autonomy. i4 Promises.indb 56 2010.10.18. 14:30 57 In Search of a New Left...