No more hippies! Youth identity, memory and panic in the Cold War: May 1968 in Costa Rica

Abstract

In May 1968, the visit of a dozen young foreigners, who identified themselves as hippies, provoked widespread moral panic in the media, amongst the authorities and the Costa Rican society. This article analyzes this event through the memories of the youth and newspaper articles of those days. In order to do so, the text is divided in three parts: Firstly, it presents the discussion that were sparked by that visit. Secondly, it examines the actions the authorities took regarding the panic. Thirdly, it analyzes the public opinion in the proceedings of this event. The article concludes assessing the role that the visit of the hippies played in the discussions on youth identities in Costa Rica, with the aim of evaluating young people’s actions in that context, understanding these actions as initial responses, while also placing them in the transnational framework of an iconic year for the youth of the Cold War.