Democracy without compromises: Political critique and intellectual militancy from Socialisme ou Barbarie to l'esprit soixante-huitard

My dissertation explores the genealogy of the political culture that defined engagement and militancy in France before and after 1968. My thesis argues that the advocacy of intellectuals for individual liberties and political dissent redefined the parameters of political engagement and preceded the radical movement of the sixties and the revival of democratic political thought after 1968. The relationship between the shortcomings of revolutionary militancy and the rise of individualism as a political and cultural attitude is at the center of my account and study on the contradictions of engagement. My thesis has focused on the recurrence of paradox in the trajectory of intellectual engagement and grassroots militancy and its uses for French political theory after 1968. I discuss the ideas of intellectuals interested in the paradoxes and conflicts of democracy and the historical context in which they developed their critique. Delimiting the parameters of state authority, rethinking the political representation of the people and safeguarding individual freedoms were the central questions for militant leaders and intellectuals in times of crisis and the reasons for their choice to engage in political life. The history of the theory and practice of political commitment and militancy illustrates the paradoxes inherent to the making of compromises between individuals and institutions, intellectuals and ideologies, and society and the state.