Capitalism and the emergence of civic equality in eighteenth-century France
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Bibliographic Information
Capitalism and the emergence of civic equality in eighteenth-century France
（Chicago studies in practices of meaning）
University of Chicago Press, 2021
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Capitalism and the emergence of civic equality in 18th century France
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Includes bibliographical references (p. [373]-392) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
There is little doubt that the French Revolution of 1789 changed the course of Western history. But why did the idea of civic equality-a distinctive signature of that revolution-find such fertile ground in France? How might changing economic and social realities have affected political opinions?
William H. Sewell Jr. argues that the flourishing of commercial capitalism in eighteenth-century France introduced a new independence, flexibility, and anonymity to French social life. By entering the interstices of this otherwise rigidly hierarchical society, expanded commodity exchange colored everyday experience in ways that made civic equality thinkable, possible, even desirable, when the crisis of the French Revolution arrived. Sewell ties together masterful analyses of a multitude of interrelated topics: the rise of commerce, the emergence of urban publics, the careers of the philosophes, commercial publishing, patronage, political economy, trade, and state finance. Capitalism and the Emergence of Civic Equality in Eighteenth-Century France offers an original interpretation of one of history's pivotal moments.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The French Revolution and the Shock of Civic Equality
Chapter 1: Old Regime State and Society
Chapter 2: The Eighteenth-Century Economy: Commerce and Capitalism
Part 1: The Emergence of an Urban Public
Chapter 3: The Commercial Public Sphere
Chapter 4: The Empire of Fashion
Chapter 5: The Parisian Promenade
Part 2: The Philosophes and the Career Open to Talent
Chapter 6: The Philosophe Career and the Impossible Example of Voltaire
Chapter 7: Denis Diderot: Living by the Pen
Chapter 8: The Abbe Morellet: Between Publishing and Patronage
Chapter 9: Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Self-Deceived Clientage
Part 3: Royal Administration and the Promise of Political Economy
Chapter 10: Tocqueville's Challenge: Royal Administration and the Rise of Civic Equality
Chapter 11: Warfare, Taxes, and Administrative Centralization: The Double Bind of Royal Finance
Chapter 12: Political Economy: A Solution to the Double Bind?
Chapter 13: Navigating the Double Bind: Efforts at Reform
Conclusion: The Revolution and the Advent of Civic Equality
Epilogue: Civic Equality and the Continuing History of Capitalism
Acknowledgments
References
Index
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