Dijon in May 1968: Local Politics, the Spectre of Anarchy and the 'Silent Majority'

Citation

Reynolds S (2008) Dijon in May 1968: Local Politics, the Spectre of Anarchy and the 'Silent Majority'. Modern and Contemporary France, 16 (2), pp. 195-208. https://doi.org/10.1080/09639480801975917

Abstract
This article provides an account of the municipal by-election held in Dijon during May 1968 following the death of its long-time mayor, le chanoine Kir. The chief candidate to replace him was the Gaullist Robert Poujade, secretary-general of the UDVe at national level. Drawing on local sources, including speeches made at the time and reports from the local press, the article analyses the rhetoric of local politics as it shifted ground under the pressure of the national crisis, and explores the experience of May 1968 from a perspective often sidelined in dominant narratives of the events: provincial France and those opposed to the movement rather than those who participated in it.

Keywords
crisis; Death; EVENT; experience; FRANCE; LEVEL; movement; Narratives; PERSPECTIVE; Politics; PRESSURE; RHETORIC; Speech; time; WHO

Journal
Modern and Contemporary France: Volume 16, Issue 2

People

Professor Sian Reynolds

Emeritus Professor, French