The Jacobin Legacy in Modern France Essays in Honour of Vincent Wright

by Hazareesingh, Sudhir

• ISBN13: 9780199256464
• ISBN10: 0199256462
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-01-16
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In this volume, a distinguished collection of historians and political scientists reflect on France's evolution as a political community from the nineteenth century to the present. France is often seen as a 'Jacobin' polity, committed to the principles of national unity and statecentralization, a robust conception of patriotism, the promotion of a uniform and homogenous culture on its society, and the defence of the general interest against sectional concerns. The overall aims of the book are threefold: firstly to map out the key features of this 'Jacobin' model as itemerged in nineteenth century France; secondly to explore the institutional, political, and social realities which lay behind its rhetoric, and often subverted its grand objectives; and thirdly to offer an overview of the transformation of this French Jacobinism, as it has sought to adapt itself tosuch significant changes as the impact of successive wars, the establishment of republican government, the emergence of the welfare state, the drive towards European integration, and development of regionalism and multiculturalism. Among the principal themes of the book are: the place of war in shaping republican political culture, the role of elites, the administrative structure of the French state, the definition of the principles of good citizenship, and the question of territoriality. French specialists from Britain,Europe, and United States come together to offer an original and timely evaluation of the 'French model' of state building, associational activity, and civic integration. Shedding new light on the specificities of modern French political culture, this collection of essays will appeal to historiansand political scientists interested in the transformation of French public institutions and society, as well as comparativists seeking a deeper understanding of the French political system. This volume is a tribute to the scholarship of the late Vincent Wright, former Official Fellow, Nuffield College, Univeristy of Oxford.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors	ix
Vincent Wright and the Jacobin Legacy in Historical and Theoretical Perspectives	1	(20)
Sudhir Hazareesingh
`La Guerre Sainte': Debates about Just War among Republicans in the Nineteenth Century	21	(24)
Karma Nabulsi
`Honorable and Honoured Citizens': War Veterans of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Eras under the Second Empire	45	(23)
Sudhir Hazareesingh
The Prefect, Political Functionary of the Jacobin State: Permanences and Continuities (1870--1914)	68	(21)
Jean-Pierre Machelon
Fraternity, Solidarity, Sociability: the Grass Roots of the Grand Orient de France (1900--1926)	89	(26)
Maurice Larkin
Reform, Conservation, and Adaptation: Sciences-Po, from the Popular Front to the Liberation	115	(32)
Philip Nord
General de Gaulle and the Restoration of the Republic	147	(11)
Douglas Johnson
Emulation Through Decoration: A Science of Government?	158	(25)
Olivier Ihl
The Republic and its Territory: The Persistence and the Adaptation of Founding Myths	183	(13)
Yves Meny
Making Citizens in an Increasingly Complex Society: Jacobinism Revisited	196	(21)
Dominique Schnapper
Appendix: The Works of Vincent Wright	217	(10)
Index	227