Uprising! Searching for new subjectivities in the Sixties. Introduction

Abstract

Thanks to an extraordinary synergy between many heterogeneous factors, the fertile seedlings planted in the Sixties flourished and bore fruit in the 1970s. Slowly, their branches entwined throughout Western society up until the end of that decade and beyond. The elements influencing this metamorphosis are brought to light and discussed in the rich, in-depth articles collected in this monographic issue of Espacio, Tiempo y Educación, entitled The Sixties Reloaded. Exploring social movements, student protests and youth rebellion –a new exploration of the decade that has generally been relegated to the body of sociological and philosophical research. They were rich and dense years: the goal of the younger generations was to create a new symbolic imaginary, which took shape through music, fashions and alternative lifestyles that stood out in stark contrast to those enjoyed by their parents and grandparents. They went to the streets to protest: they alarmed the politicians in power who tried to convey through the media a very simplified version of the young, so missing the most significant development in the 1960s –the youth taking on a new role, becoming visible in “other” places, beyond the traditional spaces for protest, fighting for pacifism and civil rights, in an attempt to unite the utopian desire to change the world with a recognition of a strong subjectivity.

Keywords

• Sixties
• student protests
• youth
• social movements
• counterculture