Chris Harman, ‘The legacy of the 1960s’, talk to Exeter Marxist Forum, 19th September 2004

Chris Marsh’s notes:

The 1940s and 50s were more reactionary than today: Empire, Africa, SE Asia, racism, mass murder, Kenya, Cyprus torture, hangings.

France Indo-China/Vietnam, 1954-62 1m deaths in Algeria.

US South: blacks no vote etc. murder by police.

Europe: Spain and Portugal fascist.

Greece: rightwing regime, 1967 dictatorship.

Italy and France leftwing displaced.

Britain: better but racism taken for granted, ‘nigger’, monkeys etc.

Workers 5 ½ day week, Saturday pm off, housewife, unequal rights, divorce difficult.

Sex before marriage abhorrent, homosexuality illegal.

1960s series of revolts on massive scale, single issues eg Jim Crow sparked in southern US.

Martine Luther King late 1950s to 1966.

White students in US raising questions, leftwing coffee shops, Berkeley San Francisco 1966, civil rights sit in.

US took over from France holding down Vietnam. Intervened everywhere, imposed dictatorships eg Guatemala.

Resistance in Vietnam gave rise to movement especially in US, smaller than against Gulf War, Pentagon 100 thousand people.

Berlin centre of free world but divided. 1967 Shah of Iran to Berlin, students demonstrated, one killed. Explosion of red flags in West Berlin.

1968 Eastern Block, protest in Poland polytechnic, down with red bourgeoisie, Czech diff. (?) socialism.

Single issue things the connections made, eg Martin Luther King against Vietnam War, few weeks later murdered, by FBI?

Reaction uprisings in US. Radicalisation of black people. Hoover. 40% Black Panther Party, Marxist Leninist.

Two events:

• February 1968 uprising Tet Offensive in South Vietnam. Crisis in US. Johnson no second term due to crisis.
• 1968 France, oppressive for previous 10 years, de Gaulle ruled with iron hand. Strike breaking eg rail workers threatened with conscription to army, men in women’s dorms protest, police attacked, students defended strike for 6 nights, signal to France.

Workers’ struggles, huge demo in Paris, occupied factory, escalated, every workplace occupied, airport, even Follies Bergere.

All the single issue campaigns coalesced 1968-1974/5.

1968 Russian occupation of Czechoslovakia, Olympic Games demo in Mexico City, students shot down, US athletes Black Power salute.

Italy action 1969, factories 20 years of strike breaking, then NLF c.f. Viet Cong student occupation. To 1974 huge demos in cities

Argentina military dictatorship, big frozen meat factories, car factories. 1969 students killed, workers marched, overthrow of military dictatorship.

1969 Chile, land occupations, coup 1973.

Greece 1967, students and building workers, illegal radio broke censorship, army tank into polytechnic, dictator fell from power.

Spain 1968, Franco declared state of emergency against ‘the virus from France’, 1970 political strike, Basque country against death sentence.

1972-4 protests, regions and workers, 1975 Franco died, how to deal with unrest ‘de-frocked priests’.

Portugal 1974 colonial war with Angola and Mozambique, dictator overthrown, civilians and workers, red flag, 18 months of turmoil.

Whole of the Western World, also Calcutta and Latin America.

Why was it not successful? Didn’t have knowledge of alternative, looked to Opposition for leadership, eg brought down Heath government to bring in Wilson.

France, de Gaulle to Mitterrand plus communist party. Italy Christian Democrats to communists.

Upper class resisted concessions to opposition, cool things with deal.

1974 Conservative government or miners? Lost. Gave unions privileges, go to courts if sacked but stop strikes.

Italy Communist Party ‘governmental space’, work with Christian Democrats.

Spain Communist Party, socialist party and unions in exile. King (replaced Franco) meeting workers movements.

Everywhere compromises.

US Spiro Agnew deputy to Nixon, Watergate led to Ford and Carter also compromises, CIA pulled in, end of Vietnam War.

Movement of the 60s ended. People left by themselves, disempowered, disintegration.

Social gains, change of regime in schools, slightly more liberal, equal pay, gays not illegal.

Economic gains lost 1975-8-, Thatcher’s boot in. Blacks not racist language but 20-30% unemployed, Asians 40% in textile towns.

We should defend the 1960s social gains.

Now young committing suicide in 1980-90s due to exam stress etc.

Sartre invited to speak in US on Vietnam 1968 (?) and refused because ‘there would never by anti-war in US’.

Gertz said there would never be a General Strike in France – his book was published after it happened.

People then didn’t predict.

Potentiality always there.

Since 1999 Seattle, massive demos, 5-10 times bigger protests.

Questions/comments:

RB: 1974 as a student went to talk by Italian communists on the ‘historic compromise’, having to work with the opposition.

Social contract, TU legislation by Labour Party.

JB: Commodification of 60s radicalism.

Marx: Capitalism is a band of warring brothers, eg media.

150 years of working class struggle means that we don’t walk through picket lines – media didn’t tell them.

Upheaval possible because Iraq is big embarrassment for US.