The Council for Maintaining the Occupations (french: Conseil pour le Maintien des Occupations), or CMDO, was a revolutionary committee formed during the
May 1968 events in France originating in the
Sorbonne.
[René Viénet (1968) ]
The "Council for Maintaining the Occupations" and Councilist Tendencies
'. Enragés and Situationists in the Occupations Movement (Paris, May 1968). Translated by Loren Goldner and Paul Sieveking. The council favored the continuation of
wildcat general strike
A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
s and
factory occupations across France, maintaining them through
directly democratic workers' councils.
Within the revolutionary movement, it opposed the influence of major
trade unions and the
French Communist Party who intended to contain the revolt and compromise with General
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
.
[Guy Debord, Mustapha Khayati, René Riesel, Christian Sébastiani, Raoul Vaneigem, René Viénet (1969) ]
The Beginning of an Era
'. Internationale Situationniste #12 (Paris, September 1969).Translated by Ken Knabb.
The council implemented a policy of equal representation for its participants. It was described by
Situationist René Viénet
René Viénet (born 6 February 1944, in Le Havre) is a French sinologist who is famous as a situationist writer and filmmaker. Viénet used the situationist technique of détournement — the diversion of already existing cultural elements to new ...
as "essentially an uninterrupted general assembly, deliberating day and night. No faction or private meetings ever existed outside the common debate." It was formed on the evening of May 17, by supporters of the
Sorbonne Occupation Committee
The Sorbonne Occupation Committee (French: ''Comité d'Occupation de la Sorbonne'') was a politically radical student group that occupied the Sorbonne during the May 1968 events in France.
The Sorbonne student occupation began Monday, 13 May, af ...
.
See also
*
Sorbonne Occupation Committee
The Sorbonne Occupation Committee (French: ''Comité d'Occupation de la Sorbonne'') was a politically radical student group that occupied the Sorbonne during the May 1968 events in France.
The Sorbonne student occupation began Monday, 13 May, af ...
*''
On the Poverty of Student Life
''On the Poverty of Student Life: A Consideration of Its Economic, Political, Sexual, Psychological and Notably Intellectual Aspects and of a Few Ways to Cure it'' (french: De la misère en milieu étudiant considérée sous ses aspects économiq ...
''
*
May 1968 in France
*
Situationist International
The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...
References
May 1968 events in France
Situationist International
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