The French nearly had (another) revolution in 1968 but, ultimately, it failed. Louis Althusser was one of the post-’68 theorists who set himself the task of working out why people give in to authority, even when it would be better for them to not do so. We’ll be studying how he made use of the post-Freudian theory of psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan to explain why we all consider ourselves guilty until proven innocent.

This event is part of the Antiuniversity Now! festival weekend, a collaborative experiment revisiting and reimagining the Antiuniversity of 1968 in a weekend of events inspired by the spirit, people and activities of the Antiuniversity of East London. The session also forms a part of our wider Introduction to Cultural Studies: Culture, Technology & Power, a free course and introduction to the subject taught by senior academics moonlighting from their day jobs at the University of East London. For more information on the course click here.