ABSTRACT
In his lecture on the European landscape of memory, Enzo Traverso states that today we are turning towards the past because we have lost the vision of the future. “A world without utopias,” he proclaims, “inevitably looks towards the past.” 1 Many texts in this volume, though, look back at 1968 while thinking about the future. However flawed 1968 was, it engenders the need for continuity, a continuity of being socially engaged, of feeling part of common world citizenship, a solidarity with others that makes the future seem less ominous, lighter. As unserious, or even ridiculous, as it looked to its critics, 1968 meant energy, action, hope, and festive anarchism. It is that mixture of seriousness, irony, and fun that irritates its detractors. Yes, 1968 was great. And then it wasn’t.
