Suggested citation: R. Cinquanta, Il Movimento Federalista europeo di fronte al Movimento studentesco (1968-1979), in lceonline (www.lceonline.eu) , 2/2026, p. 91 ss.
Key words: European federalist movement, student movement, protests of 1968, history of federalism, history of European integration
Abstract: This essay traces the political relations between the European Federalist Movement (MFE) and the student movement between 1968 and 1979, situating them within the history of the MFE, which during these years underwent a phase of reorganization and strategic repositioning centered on the campaign for the direct election of the European Parliament. After reviewing the theoretical-political interpretation that the federalists gave of the student movement, understood as a global phenomenon, the study follows the attempts at political convergence undertaken by the MFE in order to channel the student movement’s energy for renewal toward concrete political objectives. In particular, it highlights the motivations and difficulties of this convergence, which was focused on the proposal of infra- and supranational federalism in response to the demands for autonomy and self-management put forward by the student uprisings. The essay argues that the reconstruction of these motivations and difficulties reveals the relevance and timeliness of the political framework that the federalists established as the basis for their relations with the student movement. Indeed, by demonstrating the depth of resistance to moving beyond the rigid frameworks of ideologies and political concepts no longer consistent with the contemporary world, it reveals how the crisis of politics in the “Western” world stems primarily from its national conceptual horizon.
