To Speak for the People: Public Opinion and the Problem of Legitimacy in the French Revolution

ISBN-13: 9780415929721 / Angielski / Miękka / 2001 / 256 str.

Jon Cowans

Opis

First Published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Recenzje

"This excellent book is the first legitimate study of the meanings of 'public opinion' in the French Revolution and the rhetorical force with which the term could be deployed. It adds substantially to our knowledge of the political discourse of the Revolution and of the history of one of the key concepts in modern politics." -- Keith Baker, Stanford University
"This timely study significantly contributes to continuing conversations among historians about the emergence of a public sphere at the end of the eighteenth century. Cowans masterfully guides us through the constructions and deployment of public opinion as an instrument of political legitimization and delegitimization." -- Darline Gay Levine, New York University
"Informed by the work of Jurgen Habermas and Keith Baker, Jon Cowans extends the study of public opinion and its linguistic context into the revolutionary era itself. The author demonstrates the remarkable change in the concept of public opinion during the revolution by examining the language of speeches in the various assemblies, deliberations of the Jacobin Club in Paris, and commentary in assorted contemporary publications." -- American Historical Review, Kenneth Margerison, Southwest Texas State University

Spis treści

Introduction I. Public Opinion and the people in Prerevolutionary France II. Sovereignty and Representation, 1789-92 III. Public Opinion and Legitmacu, 1789-92 IV. The Beginnings of the Republic, 1792-93 V. The Terror From Themidor to Brumaire Conclusion

O autorze

Jon Cowans is a graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He received his Ph.D. in History at Stanford University. He has published articles on French political culture, cultural politics, and memory in French Historical Studies, the Journal of Contemporary History, and History and Memory. He teaches in the History Department of Rutgers University and lives in Brooklyn, New York.