Life in Revolutionary France

Description

The French Revolution brought momentous political, social, and cultural change. Life in Revolutionary France asks how these changes affected everyday lives both in urban and rural areas. It sees an international cast of distinguished academics and emerging scholars present new research on how people experienced and survived the revolutionary decade, with a particular focus on individual and collective agency. The book combines innovative work with student-friendly essays to offer fresh perspectives on topics such as: the impact of war; race; sexuality and identity; childhood; spirituality and mysticism; surveillance and transparency; prison communities; food, health and radical medicine; and environmental justice. The French Revolution brought momentous political, social, and cultural change. Life in Revolutionary France explores how those changes affected everyday life in both urban and rural France and the Atlantic World. It offers innovative and student-friendly research by an international cast of distinguished academics and emerging scholars. The book follows a three- part structure: “Revolutionary Identities and Spaces,” “The Right To? – Revolutionary Justice at Work,” and “Revolutionary Experiences, Practices, Sensations.” Each of these sections is organized to resonate both with classic questions about the Revolution and with contemporary concerns. They address topics ranging from women’s political activism to revolutionaries’ belief in the “right to health,” from the treatment of prisoners of war to the impact of surveillance on daily lives, and from religious freedom to the controversial use of guillotine displays to bring revolutionary “news” to Atlantic audiences. Essays also introduce readers to the rich sources of the Revolution—including newly exploited archives and the visceral legacies of art and material culture—and to creative methodologies, ranging from GIS mapping to the history of emotion. Each chapter includes a primary source for readers to explore further; many of these are translated into English for the first time. Cover page Halftitle page Title page Copyright page CONTENTS FIGURES MAPS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Map Introduction: Rethinking the Revolutionary Everyday Revolutionary Identities and Spaces The Right To?—Revolutionary Justice at Work Revolutionary Experiences, Practices, Sensations Notes PART ONE Revolutionary Identities and Spaces 1 Republicans and Royalists: Seeking Authentic Rural Voices in the Sources of the French Revolution Describing Rural Experience: Approaches and Challenges Enthusiasm and Engagement: Studying Peasants in Revolutionary Political Culture The Battle for Public Opinion Seeking Out Rural Voices: Unpacking Trials for Seditious Speech Conclusion Notes 2 Mapping Women’s Everyday Lives in Revolutionary Marseille The Crowd, the Patriot Movement, and Revolutionary Democracy in 1789 Revolutionary Democracy and Women’s Political Transformation of Space in 1790 1792: Patriot Women, the Jacobin Club, and Marseille’s Regional Expansion of Power The 1793–4 Transformation of Political Space during the Federalist Revolt Mapping the Consequences for Women during the Federalist Revolt and the Terror, 1793–4 Notes 3 Emigration, Landlords, and Tenants in Revolutionary Paris Tenants, Landlords, and Building Life Owning and Managing Real Estate in Eighteenth-century Paris Building Concierges and the Paris Information Economy Conclusion Notes 4 Home Fronts and Battlefields: The Army, Warfare, and the Revolutionary Experience Army and Society in Old Regime France Citizens and Citizen-soldiers in the Early Revolution The Army and Equality Conscription Protecting Families Surveillance and Repression “Revolutionary Until the Peace”: The War and Constitutional Rights War and Society under Napoleon and Beyond Conclusion Notes 5 Race, Freedom, and Everyday Life: French Caribbean Prisoners of War in Britain Uncovering a Lost History of Identity and Captivity The Sources Marching into Captivity The Atlantic Crossing to Britain The Gates of the Prisons Life in Portchester Prison The Prison Ships The Black Officers Women and Young Children in Prison Leaving Prison Conclusion Notes PART TWO The Right To?—Revolutionary Justice at Work 6 Crime, Law, and Justice Legal and Judicial Reforms of the Early Revolution The Politics of Crime and the Search for Justice Judicial and Penal Policy in Practice Notes 7 Surveillance at Work: A Theft on the Rue du Bac The Transparency of Surveillance In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time The Scene of the Crime Inviting Surveillance Fictions of Surveillance Notes 8 Sex as Work: Public Women in Revolutionary Paris Who Were the “Public Women?” Sexual “Day Laborers” The Moral Economy of Prostitution Second-class Citizens but Citizens Nonetheless Conclusion Notes 9 Doctors, Radicalism, and the Right to Health: Three Visions from the French Revolution Notes PART THREE Revolutionary Experiences, Practices, Sensations 10 Tasting Liberty: Food and Revolution Butchers of the Revolution Butchers and Pigs Feeding the Nation Conclusion: In Retrospect Notes 11 Spectacles of French Revolutionary Violence in the Atlantic World Notes 12 Practice and Belief: Religion in the Revolution The Church in the Ancien Régime Religion in the Early Revolution The Rise of De-Christianization Towards a Republican Religion Religion Under the Directory Napoleon and the Concordat of 1801 Conclusion Notes 13 Facing the Unknown: The Private Lives of Miniatures in the French Revolutionary Prison Portraits of Consolation Ambulant Portraits Protection and Guardianship of Miniatures Return of Miniatures The Avant-décès Portrait The Après-décès Portrait Notes 14 Revolutionary Parents and Children: Everyday Lives in Times of Stress Children of the Enlightenment When Things Went Wrong: Networks of Support Growing Up after the Revolution: Delayed Impact? The Terror and Trauma Attitudes to Parents and the Revolution Notes NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS RECOMMENDED READING INDEX