
HoW: History on Wednesday | Ben Mercer
Dr Ben Mercer | Australian National University
Consuming Revolutions: Consumer Society and Political Revolt in 1968 in Western Europe.
Historians have often struggled to interpret the relation of the political revolts of 1968 to the consumer revolutions of the era. Was ‘1968’ the product of consumerism or a revolt against it? Was political revolt defeated by the hedonistic appeals of consumer society? Did the revolts of 1968 only pave the way for consumerist individualism, a society in which revolution itself was marketised and sold pack to it participants? This paper analyses the multiple and contradictory meanings and practices of consumerism within the revolts of 1968 in Western Europe.
Ben Mercer is Senior Lecturer in the School of History at the Australian National University. He is the author of Student Revolt in 1968: France, Italy and West Germany (CUP, 2020). He is currently researching a book on political violence in Western Europe in the 1970s.
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The Department of History hosts a lively departmental research seminar series. Everyone is welcome to attend.
When
12:10-1:30pm Wednesday 23 March 2022
Where
On Zoom. An invitation will be sent to everyone registered for the seminar series on the day before the event.
The Department of History is part of the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry (SOPHI)
Contact
The Convenor of History on Wednesday is Dr Marco Duranti | Click here to email