The French May and the Roots of Postmodern Politics

In this article I explain the French May as a point of departure for Postmodern politics both, in the empirical struggles and the intellectual field. Taking as a point of departure the paradigm shift occurred around the concept of collective action at the end of the sixties, I contradict the generally shared assumption that puts the French May as a pioneer case of a New Social Movement. The reading of the events proposed in this article, on the contrary, presents the French Mays as the last case of a traditional movement that, nevertheless, had important consequences for the establishment of a new paradigm of mobilization.