Why May ‘68 in France Faltered— The Logistical Limits of a Libertarian Utopia
Keywords:
diversity, contention, imaginary utopia, logistics, mobilization, protest, resource management, social movementsAbstract
The success and longevity of large-scale social movements depend not only on the strength of their ideologies or the intensity of their demands, but also on their ability to organize, sustain, and adapt logistical support for participants. Using the May ‘68 movement in France as an analytical lens, this article examines the material foundations of protest—such as food, shelter, and medical care—as critical factors that can either reinforce collective resilience or accelerate a movement’s decline. It argues that managing flows is not a peripheral concern but a structuring element that remains too often overlooked in scholarly analysis. By bridging the sociology of social movements with the field of logistics management, the article reveals a persistent blind spot in conventional approaches: the strategic importance of resources and their circulation in sustaining activist engagement. This materialist reinterpretation of protest invites a rethinking of mobilization not only as an ideological endeavor, but also as an operational one—rooted in the anticipation, coordination, and distribution of essential flows capable of accommodating organizational complexity, actors’ diversity, and shifting conditions on the ground.
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