1968: The Global Revolutions

The comic strip entitled “Workers on strike,” was the first ever produced by the Conseil pour le maintien des occupations (CMDO) in 1968. The CMDO was a revolutionary committee founded at the Sorbonne in May 1968 by members of Situationist International. The CMDO opposed France’s large trade unions, describing them here as mechanisms for integration into capitalist society, and instead advocated for workers’ councils, which they considered to be more democratic. The CMDO and Situationist International published another comic strip, “Address to All Workers,” on May 30, 1968, defining the events of the previous month as a revolutionary movement that had prompted all sectors of the French population to desire a change in their society. There was an air of defiance in their words, since President De Gaulle had announced on that very day that national elections would be held on June 23, and that he would not succumb to protesters’ demands to resign.