Not long after its foundation, the ORA participated in the events of May 68, with their members distributing leaflets and some even fighting on the barricades, but its activities were largely disorganized and lacking in strategy.

[2] They also formed links with former Red Guards that had fled China following their suppression during the Cultural Revolution, which brought the ORA into conflict with French Maoists.

[2][3] In 1971, the ORA attempted a rapprochement with the Libertarian Communist Movement (MCL) led by Georges Fontenis, but this failed.

[2] Under the influence of Guérin, the ORA began to move towards libertarian Marxism and started to advocate for participation in trade unions.

In 1974, the ORA reestablished the Parisian section of International Antifascist Solidarity, to support Iberian anarcho-syndicalists through the Portuguese and Spanish transition to democracy.