Activism, Identity, and Social Theory in the 1960s
Activism, Identity, and Social Theory in the 1960s examines the crucial connection between social analysis and everyday practice using a study of the transformative social movements of the 1960s. It demonstrates how personal experiences of discrimination can reflect broader mechanisms of social exclusion, to reveal how the fusion of personal and political spheres created new forms of identity politics and social activism that continue to shape contemporary society.
Seven interconnected chapters offer unique insights covering pivotal events including May '68 in France, the New Left, Women's Liberation, racial justice movements, Gay Liberation, Northern Ireland, and Vietnam War protests. Each chapter illuminates how marginalized groups confronted injustice while highlighting the influences from social theory and philosophy that shaped activist thinking. In doing so, the author sheds light on how the events of 1968 influenced future political developments and culminated in the development of ideas such as intersectionality.
Designed for advanced undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and researchers across social science disciplines including sociology and political science, this accessible text provides essential context and offers new arguments for understanding contemporary social movements and identity politics.
Shaun Best recently retired from teaching at the University of Winchester having previously taught at the University of Manchester and Nottingham Trent University. In addition to publishing widely on the work of Zygmunt Bauman, he also writes about issues in relation to identity, education, social inclusion and social exclusion against the background of neoliberal policy and practice.