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Society, Theory and the French Revolution

Studies in the Revolutionary Imaginary

  • Book
  • © 1986

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Authors:
  1. Brian C. J. Singer
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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
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  2. Introduction: History and the Revolutionary Imaginary

    1. Introduction: History and the Revolutionary Imaginary

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 1-7

  3. Revolution and Knowledge

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-9
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    2. Secularization and Representation: the Discovery of Society

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 11-22

    3. Volney’s Ruines: a Discursus on Religion and Enlightenment

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 23-33

    4. Science, Ideology and Social Transparency

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 34-48

  4. Revolution and Power

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 49-49
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    2. Introduction: Knowledge without Power

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 51-54

    3. The Problematization of Power

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 55-64

    4. A Theoretical Interlude: Power and the Imaginary

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 65-70

    5. Despotism and Democracy: State and Society

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 71-89

  5. Designating the Nation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 91-91
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    2. The Abbé Sieyès and the Social Contract: the Nation behind the Polity

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 93-108

    3. Saint-Just against the Social Contract: Society without a Polity

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 109-123

  6. Constructing the State

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 125-125
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    2. The Problem of Political Representation

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 127-132

    3. Power and Constitution: Civil vs Political Society

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 133-151

    4. Power and Will: Power Ascending

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 152-160

    5. Power and Action: Power Descending

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 161-179

    6. The Terror

      • Brian C. J. Singer
      Pages 180-201
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Keywords

About this book

This is a very different book about the French Revolution of 1789-94. The concern is less with a change in society than a change in the relation that a society establishes with itself. Here the focus is on society's presentation (and representation) considered not simply from the perspective of a few privileged intellectuals, but as a social and historical process inseparable from the institution of society's political dimension. Through a close reading of the revolutionary texts of the period, the author is able to trace behind the surface of events and conflict themes of a more abstract, fundamental character - themes relative to the 'discovery' of society, the construction of the nation-state, and what for the revolutionaries was the scandal of their separation. While retaining a fidelity to the eighteenth century, this book opens up new theoretical perspectives that illuminate the character of both a certain revolutionary heritage and a more general political modernity.

About the author

BRIAN C. J. SINGER is a Lecturer in Social Science at York University, Ontario, and a Post-doctoral Fellow in Political Science at the University of Toronto.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Society, Theory and the French Revolution

  • Book Subtitle: Studies in the Revolutionary Imaginary

  • Authors: Brian C. J. Singer

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18361-6

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History Collection, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Brian C. J. Singer 1986

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-333-39434-2Published: 08 September 1986

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-18363-0Published: 01 January 1986

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-349-18361-6Published: 08 September 1986

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: IX, 236

  • Topics: Social History, Cultural History, European History, Modern History, History of France

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