Joachim C. Häberlen

In post-war Europe, protest was everywhere. On both sides of the Iron Curtain, ordinary people took to the streets, fighting for a better world. Their efforts came to a head most dramatically in 1968 and 1989, when mass movements swept Europe and rewrote its history. In the decades between, Joachim C. Häberlen argues, new movements emerged that transformed the nature of protesting. Activism moved beyond traditional demonstrations, and people protested in the way they dressed, the music they listened to, the lovers they slept with, the clubs where they danced all night.

New movements were born, notably anti-racism, women's liberation, gay liberation, and environmentalism. The stories in Häberlen's book invite us to imagine different futures; to struggle, to fail, and to try again. In a time when we are told that there are no alternatives, they show us that there could be another way.