Intellectual Founders of the Republic: Five Studies in Nineteenth-Century French Political Thought

In this innovative study of French political culture, the author re-examines the origins of modern republicanism through the writings and political practices of five key nineteenth-century intellectuals: Jules Barni, Charles Dupont-White, Emile Littré, Eugène Pelletan, and Etienne Vacherot. Drawing on a range of archival and published sources this study explores the transformation of republican ideology, and stresses the continuing influences of Saint-Simonism, socialism, doctrinaire liberalism, and neo-Kantianism on republican thinking during this period. The book sheds new light on French republican conceptions of good citizenship, the meaning of patriotism, the role of the state, the value of individual liberty, and the place of education and religion in public and private life. Offering challenging insights into modern French politics as well as the history of political thought, Intellectual Founders of the Republic opens up new perspectives on republican ideology and political practice.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Revisiting the Intellectual Transformation of Nineteenth-Century France 1: Between Republicanism and Positivism: Emile Littré and the Founding of The Third Republic 2: Centralist Defender of the State: The Eclectic Republicanism of Charles Dupont-White 3: From Democratic Advocate to Monarchist Critic of the Republic: The Ambiguous Republicanism of Etienne Vacherot 4: A Republican Saint-Simonist: Eugène Pelletan and the Transformation of Nineteenth-Century Republicanism 5: Neo-Kantian Moralist and Activist: Jules Barni and the Establishment of the Municipalist Republic Conclusion: The Origins of the Third Republic Reconsidered

Review :
`Review from previous edition The most fascinating aspect of this closely analysed volume, that will be a treasure trove for specialists, are the numerous illustrations of continuity in liberal thought throughout the nineteenth century.' English Historical Review `Sudhir Hazareesingh is to be congratulated on expanding from his previous work on the under-studied Second Empire to the early years of the Third Republic, with a backward glance to the pre-1851 decades. He has added a distinctive interpretation of the French version of republicanism that is markedly different from its rival Anglo-American affiliation with liberalism...Wide-ranging and close scrutiny of the texts ... By his subtlety of analysis and sustained sensitivity to nuance and complexity, steering the reader circumspectly through the shoals of improvised theory and intransigent practice, we are treated to a closely documented scrutiny of a liberal republicanism groping its way towards a consensual Republic.' History of Political Thought `Honest and erudite.' Political Studies `Challenges many of the pieties of standard accounts of the evolution of the republican tradition ... important revisionist work.' Times Literary Supplement