Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences - Institute of Asian and African Studies

Lecture at the Africa Colloquium

Prof. Omar Gueye (Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar/WiKo)

May 1968 in Africa, revisiting the 1960s

Abstract
This presentation deals with the odyssey of the African youth, torn between the revolt against the
political regimes in their countries in the context of postcolonial issues and the youth’s worldwide
revolt in May 1968 which aimed to “change the world”. As actors of a new political order, young
Africans presented themselves as sentinels of democracy in search of a brighter future, as well as
political protesters against “neocolonialism” and ideologies of the “fathers of nations”. Following
the example of their counterparts in Paris, Prague, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Chicago and other cities
around the world, students at the University of Dakar – the “18th French University” in Africa –
sparked a political and social crisis in Senegal in May 1968. This movement of students and
workers was a moment of questioning neocolonial trends and affirmation for women. While on
other continents the emancipatory impulse has followed an upward curve, in Africa it remains
problematic because of suspicion and resistance to ideas and practices “from elsewhere.” The
African re-reading of May 1968 is part of a dual perspective. On the one hand, it places Africa on
the map of the global social movement better known in its European, American and Asian versions;
on the other, it analyzes the odyssey of the Dakarois in relation to the revolutionary injunctions
and paradigms induced by the demands of 1968 and post-1968.
My research project revisiting ‘The Global Sixties in Africa’ will demonstrate the importance of
Africa in the social changes of the 1960s, since the study of May 1968 in Africa is a significant re-
orientation of perspective, Africa being often seen as peripheral to the social revolutions taking
place in Europe. However, the social upheavals in Africa were not an echo of a European struggle,
but part of locally anchored anti-colonial and/or imperialist struggles.

Short biography

Pr. Omar GUEYE is a Professor of History at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar and a
cultural consultant. He holds a Ph.D. in Modern and Contemporary History from Cheikh Anta
Diop University in Dakar, a Ph.D. in Social History from the University of Amsterdam, and an
MBA in Cultural Heritage Management from Senghor University in Alexandria.
Omar GUEYE has gained diverse experience as a former high school teacher, and member of
numerous organizations. He has participated in scientific exchange programs as a Fellow at
Harvard University, Fulbright Fellow at the University of Michigan, Fernand Braudel Fellow
at the European University Institute in Florence (EUI), Fellow at the Institut des Études
Avancées in Paris (IEA), Director of Studies-Associate at the Fondation-Maison-des-Sciences-
de-l'Homme (FMSH) in Paris, and Visiting Professor at Sorbonne and the Sciences Po Paris.