Introduction of Part III

Abstract

The 1960s marked a turning point in the evolution of resistance movements under capitalism. Following years of unprecedented growth rates, the rise of a large middle class and the institutionalization of a compromise between class and capital in the social democratic welfare state, the economy lost its position as privileged site of resistance across a range of advanced capitalist societies. Issues of “recognition,” or concerns regarding ways of life rose to prominence. In the 1968 protests in France, for example, demands for autonomy, creativity and authenticity emanating from what Boltanski and Chiapello (2005) called the “artistic” critique held a predominant place. In the American civil rights movements of the 1960s, issues of identity ruled the day. Culture, it seemed, had become the central site of resistance.