Challenging Myths of the 1960s: The Case of Student Protest in Britain

Abstract

While much current scholarship and research on the 1960s takes the existence of a number of myths about the 1960s for granted, effective attempts to define and challenge such myths are rare. One aspect of the period that has suffered conspicuously from this neglect, and indeed from a lack of detailed research, is the series of protests by students that occurred in Britain in the second half of the decade. The myths that have been constructed around these protests are numerous, and many are, at first glance at least, persuasive. When they are analysed, however, they are found to be misleading, and have resulted in the creation of a distorted view of this aspect of the period.