of his talk, Derrida casts a reflective eye on the revolt of May
’ 68 , as well as on the wider scene of global politics.
Derrida begins by addressing the encounter between
philosophy and politics, as he was compelled to do in that tur-
bulent year. After expressing what he calls his “agreement, and
to a certain point my solidarity,” with critics of the war in Viet-
nam, Derrida alludes to recent events:les evènements,the stu-
dent revolution in France. Like Hegel hearing the cannons
from Napoleon’s victory at the battle of Jena as he finished the
Phenomenology,Derrida notices history on the margins of his
work. “The writing of this text,” he remarks, “I date quite pre-
cisely from the month of April 1968 : it will be recalled that
these were the weeks of the opening of the Vietnam peace talks
and of the assassination of Martin Luther King. A bit later,
when I was typing this text, the universities of Paris were in-
vaded by the forces of order—and for the first time at the de-
mand of a rector—and then reoccupied by the students in the
upheaval you are familiar with” (Margins 114 ).
On the one hand, Derrida makes his sympathies with the
students clear by using the phrase “invaded by the forces of
order.” On the other, he rather anxiously backs away from
making any definite statement of political solidarity with
the rebels of May. Derrida continues, “This historical and
political horizon would call for a long analysis. I have simply
found it necessary to mark, date, and make known to you
the historical circumstances in which I prepared this commu-
nication” ( 114 ).
In an interview given in 1991 , Derrida remarked, “I was
not what is called a soixante-huitard [sixty-eighter]. Even
though I participated at that time in demonstrations and or-
ganized the first general meeting at the time at the École Nor-
male, I was on my guard, even worried in the face of a certain
Writing and DifferenceandOf Grammatology 131