Politics, Culture, and Class in the French Revolution

This year marks the commemoration of the 220th Anniversary of the great French Revolution. Democrats, socialists, communists and others rightly celebrate that event as a milestone in humankind's history. Whether there are still lessons to be learned from the experience is an open question that political activists can fight over. None, however, can deny its grandeur. Well, no one except those closet, and not so closet, modern day royalists, and their epigones that screech in horror and grasp for their necks every time the 14th of July comes around. They have closed the door of history behind them. Won't they be surprised then the next time there is a surge of progressive human activity? ******** All great revolutions, like the French revolution under review here, are capable, especially when they are long over, of being analyzed from many prospectives. Moreover, official and academic historian have no other reason to exist except to keep revising the effects that such revolutions have had on future historical developments. Left wing political activists, on the other hand, try to draw the lessons of those earlier plebeian struggles in order to better understand the tasks ahead. As part of that understanding it is necessary to look at previous revolutions not only from the position of how it effected the plebes but to look at from the position of those who do not see the action of the plebeian masses as decisive, at least for the French Revolution. Professor Lynn Hunt in the book under review, "Politics, Culture and Class In the French Revolution" has carved out a niche for herself exploring the morals, mores and customs of the insurgent revolutionary forces as they tried to legitimize their seizure of power. Moreover, she has done some extensive work culling through the statistics and other documentary evidence to see who, according to her lights, the main beneficiaries of the revolutionary struggle were. For those partisans of later social movements and revolutionary movements the questions posed by Professor Hunt's study about the symbols and organization of power are a welcome addition. If one, like this reviewer, spends his or her time looking at the base of society (here the urban sans culottes, the landless peasants and displaced village artisans)to see how those forces were brought to political life, organized, made politically effective (if only for a time, as noted above, before they as individuals like society in general also run out of revolutionary steam) and how they put pressure on their leaderships and how those leaderships responded to those pressures then one downplays the other social forces that are in play in a revolutionary period. Great revolutions, however, create all kinds of turmoil in layers of society that previously were dormant or were in control, although shakily. In that regard, virtually a sure sign that a pre-revolutionary situation exists is when a portion of the old ruling elite (or their agents) begins to

The Fall of Communism and the resultant unleashing of repressed nationalism spurred renewed interest in the origins and causes of nationalism. The sudden groundswell of nationalism was as though a manifestation of Albert Camus' quote that "It is a well-known fact that we always recognize our homeland when we are about to lose it." Many historians and sociologists date the origins of nationalism as an ideology, sentiment or social movement to the early years of the 19th Century, but this is a contentious subject, and one which Hunt seeks to disprove by utilizing French history as her vehicle. Hunt focuses on the means French Revolutionaries utilized to achieve a French national identity by supplanting those of the ancien regime. When first released in 1984, Hunt's book was something of a sensation for its exploration of the use of symbolism, imagery and rhetoric to forge a common national identity at the time of the Revolution, as well as purging the vestiges of the ancien regime. Hunt takes a cultural approach exploring the use of material culture in rallying popular opinion to the Republican cause; an approach that was novel for the time, but one that is now often emulated. Hunt gives ample space in her introduction to the various historiographical debates over the causes and meaning of the Revolution, as well as over the means whereby the revolutionaries sought to solidify their hold on power. But Hunt is primarily concerned with the means revolutionaries utilized to rally public support, in the process remaking and remodeling French society in the revolutionary image, rather than in discussing the causes or consequences of the Revolution. Hunt persuasively argues that the political cannot be separated from the cultural, and it was the emergence of a public political culture in Revolutionary France that solidified support of republican ideals in the hearts and minds of the French. French citizens, previously unaccustomed to being political participants, instead found themselves actively courted by the various political factions and as a result, became actively engaged in the struggle over the Revolution. In the process belief in the King, the church, and the state were gradually swept away, replaced by the ideals of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité. Hunt divides her book into two halves; the first, and more intriguing half, addresses the appropriation of symbols and imagery to inculcate support of the Revolution's ambitions with its citizens. The second half is a more straightforward sociological examination of the Revolutionary experience. While the two halves seem somewhat dissimilar, the two related to each other well, the first half explaining the means whereby revolutionaries created the new trappings of state, and the second examining who comprised the new political classes. In the hands of a lesser author a sense of disconnection and dissimilarity could easily creep in, yet here each half would be weakened by the exclusion of t

The Fall of Communism and the resultant unleashing of repressed nationalism spurred renewed interest in the origins and causes of nationalism. The sudden groundswell of nationalism was as though a manifestation of Albert Camus' quote that "It is a well-known fact that we always recognize our homeland when we are about to lose it." Many historians and sociologists date the origins of nationalism as an ideology, sentiment or social movement to the early years of the 19th Century, but this is a contentious subject, and one which Hunt seeks to disprove by utilizing French history as her vehicle. Hunt focuses on the means French Revolutionaries utilized to achieve a French national identity by supplanting those of the ancien regime. When first released in 1984, Hunt's book was something of a sensation for its exploration of the use of symbolism, imagery and rhetoric to forge a common national identity at the time of the Revolution, as well as purging the vestiges of the ancien regime. Hunt takes a cultural approach exploring the use of material culture in rallying popular opinion to the Republican cause; an approach that was novel for the time, but one that is now often emulated. Hunt gives ample space in her introduction to the various historiographical debates over the causes and meaning of the Revolution, as well as over the means whereby the revolutionaries sought to solidify their hold on power. But Hunt is primarily concerned with the means revolutionaries utilized to rally public support, in the process remaking and remodeling French society in the revolutionary image, rather than in discussing the causes or consequences of the Revolution. Hunt persuasively argues that the political cannot be separated from the cultural, and it was the emergence of a public political culture in Revolutionary France that solidified support of republican ideals in the hearts and minds of the French. French citizens, previously unaccustomed to being political participants, instead found themselves actively courted by the various political factions and as a result, became actively engaged in the struggle over the Revolution. In the process belief in the King, the church, and the state were gradually swept away, replaced by the ideals of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité. Hunt divides her book into two halves; the first, and more intriguing half, addresses the appropriation of symbols and imagery to inculcate support of the Revolution's ambitions with its citizens. The second half is a more straightforward sociological examination of the Revolutionary experience. While the two halves seem somewhat dissimilar, the two related to each other well, the first half explaining the means whereby revolutionaries created the new trappings of state, and the second examining who comprised the new political classes. In the hands of a lesser author a sense of disconnection and dissimilarity could easily creep in, yet here each half would be weakened by the exclusion of t

If you want to understand how the French Revolution changed the common people of France this is a great way to start. The book is a bit dated but still stands up very well and Hunt's credentials are excellent. This book also talks about some of the symbols of the revolution and makes for an interesting analysis on the side. The politics goes through quite a bit of the revolution but it is fairly scattered (like most Hunt books are). If you are reading about the French Revolution this is a great addition to your reading list.