The Love Wars: Parisian Struggles (1962–68)

Studies of the 1960s continue to be dominated by the focus on the annus mirabilis of 1968. Given the traditional emphasis on key dates in French history—1789, 1848, 1871, 1936—the concentration on 1968 is understandable, but it is has had the regrettable effect of largely neglecting the early sixties. Consequently, this article examines the social/cultural changes that occurred in student dormitories of the Paris region between 1962 and 1968. These six years witnessed changes that comprised increasing tolerance of political activities and of hedonistic pleasures, resulting in the expansion of personal freedoms. Adult society—including Communists, Gaullists, and university administrators—was much less repressive and more tolerant than many students and radicals expected or believed. Historians and other observers have often pointed out that the first decade of Gaullist Fifth Republic witnessed the economic ‘modernization’ of France. Just as significantly, social and cultural mores also changed during this period.     

Die hantering van minderheidsgroepe in Duits-Suidwes-Afrika: Die Rehoboth-Basters, 1884–1915

This paper was presented at the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Amerika Instituut in Amsterdam in September 1998. Participants were asked to reflect on the ‘making of America’ in their own research and teaching. The intention was therefore to exchange very personal perspectives on how scholars from different parts of the world interpret American studies. Teaching the history of the United States of America in the 19th and 20th centuries at graduate level has been profoundly influenced by my research interests in South African history and by political and cultural forces in the apartheid and post-apartheid eras.