Richard Sakwa, Professor of Russian and European Politics at the University of Kent, will help celebrate Keynes College’s 50th anniversary with a lecture entitled “Spirit of ’68”.

The event which takes place on Monday 26 November will cover the year 1968, which has become a symbol for political and social change and which also happens to be the year Keynes College opened its doors for the first time.

It was a year packed full of events – ranging from the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia where there was an attempt to create ‘Socialism with a Human Face’, the ‘evénements’ in Paris in May, to the profound transformation of German democracy.

This was also a period of profound social transformation, with the emergence of a new attitude to work and the onset of a period of social liberalism and identity politics. The spirit was not only one of revolution but also of the deconstruction of traditional authority patterns. The spirit was that of idealism and progress.

It was in this spirit that Keynes College was established as part of the wave of new universities, with new ideas of how education can create an enlightened society. The talk will analyse these events and ideas, and assess the degree to which this spirit lives on.

The event is co-organised by the School of Politics and International Relations and by Keynes College. For more information on the event please see the events calendar.

There will be a drinks reception prior to the lecture at 17.15 which is open to all.​