Au cours de la période des longues années soixante, le Royaume-Uni fut traversé par un cycle de contestation lors duquel différents groupes de militants firent valoir un large éventail de revendications. Un certain nombre de similarités peut être observé dans leurs idéologies, leurs tactiques et leurs symboles, comme par exemple leur volonté de lutter pour leur « libération » de « l’oppression » impérialiste, paternaliste, raciste, sexiste, homophobe ou même de délivrer les animaux de la domination humaine. Ces similitudes suscitent logiquement de nombreuses questions, notamment les suivantes : comment expliquer ces parallèles ? Quels sont les liens qui ont rendu possible la diffusion de ces éléments ? Dans quelle mesure la diffusion a-t-elle contribué à l’évolution de la contestation dans les longues années soixante au Royaume-Uni ? Afin d’y répondre, cette thèse s’efforcera d’analyser séparément les différents mouvements sociaux de la période, en accordant une importance particulière à leurs interactions et à leurs rôles au sein du cycle. En fournissant un modèle aux groupes de militants qui l’adaptent ensuite à leur propre cause, les processus de diffusion viennent nourrir et amplifier la dynamique protestataire. Il ne s’agit donc pas d’un simple phénomène de mimétisme, mais d’un procédé créatif témoignant d’activités complexes de construction du sens. Le choix de la source d’inspiration est également très significatif, d’autant plus que celle-ci peut se situer dans un autre pays ou une autre époque. Ainsi, il conviendra de démontrer que la diffusion peut opérer de manière diachronique au sein d’un même territoire, comme de manière synchronique lorsque les militants jettent leur dévolu sur un mouvement aux revendications différentes ou ayant lieu à l’étranger. / During the Long Sixties, the United Kingdom witnessed the rise of a protest cycle allowing various groups of activists to press for a wide array of claims. A number of similarities can be observed in their ideologies, tactics and symbols, such as their willingness to fight for their “liberation” from “oppression”, be it imperialist, paternalistic, racist, sexist, homophobic or even to free animals from human domination. These analogies raise a number of questions, notably: how can these parallels be explained? What are the links that enabled the diffusion of these elements? To what extent did diffusion processes contribute to the evolution of protest during the Long Sixties in the United Kingdom? To answer these questions, this thesis will analyse the social movements of the period separately, whilst paying particular attention to their interactions with one another and their role within the protest cycle. By providing other groups of activists with a model that they can adapt to their own cause, diffusion processes can swell and escalate the dynamics of contention. Hence, they differ from pure mimicry; they show how meaning is carefully constructed through creative adaptations. The choice of a particular source of inspiration is also very significant, especially when it can be traced back to another era or country. Therefore, it will be demonstrated that diffusion can occur both diachronically within national boundaries or synchronically between movements making different claims or taking place in a different country.

This thesis focuses on the political dimensions of aesthetic expression during the Long Sixties. The thesis deals with amateur theatre ventures both within and linked to the social democratic labour movement. ’Spelet om Norbergsstrejken’ (The Play about the Norberg Strike) had its première in 1977 in a small industrial village in the industrial region of Bergslagen. Similar plays appeared in many regions of the country and a wave of workers’ plays emerged and made an impact on the internal investments of the educational association ABF in amateur theatre. The empiricism of the thesis concludes in 1982 when a social democratic amateur theatre association was founded and after a breakaway from the social democratic movement was establishing a residential study centre in another small village in Bergslagen. Sixties radicalisation provides the social context of the study and the perspective of sociological social movement research is used and developed. Based on the perspective of cognitive practice and the concepts of cosmology and movement ideology attention is directed towards the theatre assets of performance hosts, expectation horizons and patterns of behaviour. The thesis argues for a deeper understanding of sixties radicalisation partly meaning that the periodisation needs to be extended backwards as well as forwards in terms of time and partly that the political dimensions of aesthetic expression should be focused on. Based upon the results of the thesis the concept of culturactivism was formulated which defines the specific approach that appeared in the space between political and cultural activism. This highlights the need for a concept that covers the cognitive free space that arose between aesthetic expression and political activism and which has not previously attracted the attention of historical studies about sixties radicalisation to any great degree.

Since the 1960s, religious adherence in Canada has declined with ‘no religion’ slowly taking its place. Although British Columbia has been less religious than the rest of Canada since its early settler days, the currents of postwar secularization can still be assessed. In this thesis, I look at secularization on a denominational, regional, and gender specific scale. Through the oral testimonies of eleven women who were raised Catholic in Victoria, and who left Catholicism in the ‘long sixties,’ I discuss the way the Catholic Sisters of St Ann modeled autonomy for these women in how they were educated within the Catholic church and I investigate how cultural and societal discourse regarding women’s liberation, autonomy and individualism impacted their departure. In leaving the Catholic church, these women joined the ranks of the rising ‘religious nones’ in this region, however their departure from organized religion did not always mean a rejection of belief in a higher power or spirituality, with the majority retaining some form of spirituality throughout their lives. Despite this, their departure from institutional religion and lack of religious socialization for their children influenced the subsequent irreligiosity of their children and grandchildren. I argue that these women engaged with the calls for women’s autonomy in the long sixties, and in their actions influenced intergenerational secularization. / Graduate / 2022-09-10