The great myth of Baron Haussmann is that 'modernity' began with his monumental reconstruction of Paris in the second half of the nineteenth century. Constructing Paris in the Age of Revolution argues that 'Haussmannisation before Haussmann' in the late 1700s also made Paris the capital of the eighteenth century. In particular, due to the persistence of the black legend of uninterrupted revolutionary vandalism, few historians have researched the construction of revolutionary Paris, yet if formed a core sector of revolutionary urban, social, labour and industrial policy. Allan Potofsky thus rehabilitates the vitality of building during the Revolution, and - while architectural and urban historians have often treated the history of construction through the exclusive optic of careers and tastes of architects and urban planners, or through the structure and aesthetics of buildings, streets, and cities – his book examines the social and political history of workers and entrepreneurs engaged in constructing the French capital, in the period, 1763 to 1815.
'Far from destroying corporatism, the late eighteenth century and the Revolution inaugurated a pragmatic compromise between private enterprise and the state that enabled capitalism to flourish. Allan Potofsky's beautifully-researched study of the Paris building trades blends social, economic and cultural history and gives us a whole swathe of new insights into the city's political, social, and ideological transformation from the Old Regime to the nineteenth century.'
- David Garrioch, Monash University, Australia
'Allan Potofsky's book will make an important contribution to the history of the French Revolution, the history of Paris and the history of labour. No one but he could have written this book, which is grounded in impressively extensive archival research, yet which wears its archival learning elegantly and lightly.'
- Colin Jones, Queen Mary University of London, UK
List of illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Parisian Construction at the End of the Ancien Régime: The Building Trades, The Pre-Industrial Market, And The Guild Debate, 1750-1789
The Revolution and Construction Guilds, 1789-1793
Projecting the Revolution on the Parisian Work Site, 1789-1793
The Building Trades in the Terror and Thermidor, 1793-1795
Reconciling Commerce and Revolution, 1795-1805
Constraining Capital, Containing Labor: State Urban Planning In Paris, 1802-1815
Conclusion and Epilogue
Appendix
Notes and Bibliography
ALLAN POTOFSKY is Professor at the Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7. He was awarded a PhD in History from Columbia University, New York, and previously was Associate Professor at the Université Paris-8 (Saint-Denis). His research interests include the history of Paris, the French Revolution, eighteenth-century Atlantic history, France in America, and comparative urban history, 1750-1850. He lives in the northeast Parisian quarter of Belleville.
Description
The great myth of Baron Haussmann is that 'modernity' began with his monumental reconstruction of Paris in the second half of the nineteenth century. Constructing Paris in the Age of Revolution argues that 'Haussmannisation before Haussmann' in the late 1700s also made Paris the capital of the eighteenth century. In particular, due to the persistence of the black legend of uninterrupted revolutionary vandalism, few historians have researched the construction of revolutionary Paris, yet if formed a core sector of revolutionary urban, social, labour and industrial policy. Allan Potofsky thus rehabilitates the vitality of building during the Revolution, and - while architectural and urban historians have often treated the history of construction through the exclusive optic of careers and tastes of architects and urban planners, or through the structure and aesthetics of buildings, streets, and cities – his book examines the social and political history of workers and entrepreneurs engaged in constructing the French capital, in the period, 1763 to 1815.
Reviews
'Far from destroying corporatism, the late eighteenth century and the Revolution inaugurated a pragmatic compromise between private enterprise and the state that enabled capitalism to flourish. Allan Potofsky's beautifully-researched study of the Paris building trades blends social, economic and cultural history and gives us a whole swathe of new insights into the city's political, social, and ideological transformation from the Old Regime to the nineteenth century.'
- David Garrioch, Monash University, Australia
'Allan Potofsky's book will make an important contribution to the history of the French Revolution, the history of Paris and the history of labour. No one but he could have written this book, which is grounded in impressively extensive archival research, yet which wears its archival learning elegantly and lightly.'
- Colin Jones, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Contents
List of illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Parisian Construction at the End of the Ancien Régime: The Building Trades, The Pre-Industrial Market, And The Guild Debate, 1750-1789
The Revolution and Construction Guilds, 1789-1793
Projecting the Revolution on the Parisian Work Site, 1789-1793
The Building Trades in the Terror and Thermidor, 1793-1795
Reconciling Commerce and Revolution, 1795-1805
Constraining Capital, Containing Labor: State Urban Planning In Paris, 1802-1815
Conclusion and Epilogue
Appendix
Notes and Bibliography
Authors
ALLAN POTOFSKY is Professor at the Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7. He was awarded a PhD in History from Columbia University, New York, and previously was Associate Professor at the Université Paris-8 (Saint-Denis). His research interests include the history of Paris, the French Revolution, eighteenth-century Atlantic history, France in America, and comparative urban history, 1750-1850. He lives in the northeast Parisian quarter of Belleville.
|