Decolonizing 1968 explores how activists in 1968 transformed university campuses across Europe and North Africa into sites of contestation where students, administrators, and state officials collided over definitions of modernity and nationhood after empire. Burleigh Hendrickson details protesters' versions of events to counterbalance more visible narratives that emerged from state-controlled media centers and ultimately describes how the very education systems put in place to serve the French state during the colonial period ended up functioning as the crucible of postcolonial revolt. Hendrickson not only unearths complex connections among activists and their transnational networks across Tunis, Paris, and Dakar but also weaves together their overlapping stories and participation in France's May '68.

Using global protest to demonstrate the enduring links between France and its former colonies, Decolonizing 1968 traces the historical relationships between colonialism and 1968 activism, examining transnational networks that emerged and new human and immigrants' rights initiatives that directly followed. As a result, Hendrickson reveals that 1968 is not merely a flashpoint in the history of left-wing protest but a key turning point in the history of decolonization.

Thanks to generous funding from Penn State and its participation in TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem), the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open) and other repositories.

Burleigh Hendrickson is Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Penn State University.

In recent years, scholars have benefited from a number of works detailing the interconnectedness of protest movements, decolonization, and national liberation struggles around the world during the Global 1960s. Decolonizing 1968 is a welcome addition to this growing canon.This book goes far in centring colonization and decolonization as key ingredients in the myriad experiences that make up the Global 1960s, and makes a welcome addition to the fields of history, political science, and postcolonial theory.

Mary Dewhurst Lewis, Harvard University, author of Divided Rule:

Hendrickson provides a welcome transnational history of social movements that connected Paris and two nodes of the former French colonial empire, Tunis and Dakar, shortly following the independence of Tunisia and Senegal. Decolonizing 1968 is an innovative and stimulating contribution to the global history of 1968.

Donald M. Reid, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, author of Opening the Gates:

Decolonizing 1968 examines social movements in the long 1968 outside of North America and Western Europe without making them derivative or secondary. No previous studies have the focus and sustained argument that Burleigh Hendrickson develops. It provides a model for future work on the long 1968 outside of the West.