The principle of movement

How the Antiauthoritarians Became Authoritarian and Why Theory Was More Than Just Reading: The Story of an Unusual Radicalization. Intense discussions in pubs and seminar rooms, manic reading, the suggestive sociology slang of Rudi Dutschke: The vibrant concept of theory is one of the first associations when discussing the antiauthoritarian student movement. But what was theory, and why did it have such an intoxicating character in '68? Benedikt Sepp takes a praxeological look at the fascination with theory among the rebellious students, going beyond the history of ideas and movement research. By tracing the emphatic awakening of the early sixties to the stagnating offshoots of the Maoist K-groups, the author illustrates how a specific understanding of theory contributed to the radicalization of the movement—one that only validated analysis if it could be put into action. This irreconcilable tension between theory and practice fueled a movement that was more than just a self-designation. Thus, the history of the antiauthoritarian movement is told here in a new way—as driven by the imperatives of a thinking that sought to transcend this very thinking.