Books & ideas

Against Hereditary Rights

Rafe Blaufarb — 2020-09-21T07:00:00Z

How did the French Revolution, after abolishing privilege, also become the foundation of modern inequality? Thomas Piketty's latest book focuses on the evolving ideological constructions of property across the ages and offers ways to solve the problem of inequality without challenging to the individual right to private property.

The Aporias of Property

Jean-Fabien Spitz — 2020-02-10T08:00:00Z

Private property is now sacred, and its strict definition prohibits the redress of inequalities and of environmental problems. But it was not always conceived in this way: It was invented by the French Revolution.

Reevaluating Terror in the French Revolution

Charles Walton — 2019-01-28T07:00:00Z

Was the French Revolution bound to become authoritarian? Do revolutionary ideologies always lead to violence? Annie Jourdan's book reconfigures mainstream narratives of the Revolution and provides an alternative interpretation of the ‘Reign of Terror'.

Robespierre, An Indecisive Revolutionary

Annie Jourdan — 2017-05-18T07:00:00Z

Was the “Terror” Robespierre's fault? His name alone has symbolised revolutionary tragedies for two centuries now. Nonetheless, it is a whole different protagonist, once cautious, discreet and indecisive, that the historian, Jean-Clément Martin, invites us to rediscover.

The Logic of Revolutions

Giedre Sabaseviciute — 2017-01-19T08:00:00Z

With the ‘Arab Springs', the question of revolution was raised afresh. Taking a comparative approach, H. Bozarslan and G. Delemestre analyse the link between revolution and the democratic process, focusing on the role played by intellectuals in the revolutionary dynamic.

Bonaparte: a Condottiere in Revolution

Annie Jourdan — 2015-01-15T06:30:00Z

It took the revolutionary meritocracy for the military, organizational, and administrative genius of the future emperor to emerge. In the first volume of his biography (up to 1802), Patrice Gueniffey shows that Bonaparte was at the same time a “king of a new kind”, an enlightened despot, a revolutionary, and a post-revolutionary, always driven by an iron will.

Revolutionary Roundup

Guillaume Mazeau — 2013-06-27T07:30:00Z

Why was the 2011 Tunisian revolution perceived in France as a rerun of 1789? Why did Tunisian revolutionaries identify with an “Arab Spring” couched in terms of the European revolutions of 1848? Historian Guillaume Mazeau parses these mirrored constructs and how we view and skew revolutionary temporalities.

Revolution and Redistribution

Charles Walton — 2013-04-23T07:51:07Z

When we think about revolutions, don't economic interests tend to be left out of the equation? For the last two decades political and cultural questions have made social justice appear a secondary concern. According to historian Charles Walton, the problem of redistribution, already apparent in 18^th century revolutions, is also central to Egyptian revolutionaries.

The Politics of Disagreement

Emile Chabal — 2012-12-03T08:00:00Z

How comprehensive can a history of modern French political thought claim to be? Jeremy Jennings has undertaken to capture the complexity of modern French politics in ten thematic chapters.

The Mystery of the Terror

Annie Jourdan — 2011-01-24T09:49:33Z

According to the historian Dan Edelstein, the violent phase of the Terror arose directly out of the French revolutionaries' fascination with natural right theory. This new interpretation is unpersuasive to Annie Jourdan; in particular, she questions the relevance of analysing the French Revolution in Schmittian terms.