The French revolts of May 1968, the largest general strike in twentieth-century Europe, were among the most famous and colourful episodes of the twentieth century. Julian Bourg argues that during the subsequent decade the revolts led to a remarkable paradigm shift in French thought - the concern for revolution in the 1960s was transformed into a fascination with ethics. Challenging the prevalent view that the 1960s did not have any lasting effect, From Revolution to Ethics demonstrates that intellectuals and activists turned to ethics as the touchstone for understanding interpersonal, institutional, and political dilemmas. In absorbing and scrupulously researched detail Bourg explores the developing ethical fascination as it emerged among student Maoists courting terrorism, anti-psychiatric celebrations of madness, feminists mobilizing against rape, and pundits and philosophers championing human rights. Based on newly accessible archival sources and over fifty interviews with men and women who participated in the events of the era, From Revolution to Ethics provides a compelling picture of how May 1968 helped make ethics a compass for navigating contemporary global experience.

Julian Bourg is associate dean for the Core and associate professor of history at Boston College. He is editor of After the Deluge: New Perspectives on the Intellectual and Cultural History of Postwar France and translator of Claude Lefort, Complications: Communism and the Dilemmas of Democracy.

Julian Bourg's profile page

"This is a terrific book. No study of May 1968 - and they are legion - matches From Revolution to Ethics in combining impeccable historical research and scholarly judiciousness with an incessant underlying passion for the ethical project, complexly understood." Peter Starr, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, American University

"Bourg brings to life an impressive quantity of documents from thirty years ago, utilizing mostly journals and smaller publications. He also incorporates recent interviews with some of the protagonists. Our understanding of French intellectual politics is

"An engrossing work, profound, thoughtful, and well written". Jacques Szaluta, emeritus, United States Merchant Marine Academy, CHOICE

"Students of contemporary French society, politics and thought should find this an enriching and thoughtprovoking study." Keith Reader, Glasgow University

"In the valuable tradition of intellectual history, this book is a unique and fascinating analysis of difficult French thinkers and their movements." Michael Seidman, history, University of North Carolina, author of The Imaginary Revolution: Parisian Stud