ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to identify the constituent elements of the student movement and the Cultural Revolution that comprised the student rebellion. It examines the radical phase of the 1968 Era, when the student movement embraced revolutionary political strategies and provoked violent confrontations. Efforts to block armed forces recruiters were intended to expose university complicity in the war and American imperialism; protests against university rules were meant to reveal the authoritarian nature of establishment institutions. Students for a Democratic Society in 1960 (SDS) was responsible for staging protests against armed forces recruiters and corporate symbols, especially Dow Chemical, the manufacturer of napalm. By the spring of 1967, protests had increased in frequency and intensity; the challenge for SDS was to utilize these protests to generate "revolutionary consciousness". Harvard SDS achieved notoriety by temporarily blockading Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. The chapter explores the longer-term consequences of the developments on American universities and society.
