The Radical Bourgeoisie

The Ligue de l'Enseignement and the Origins of the Third Republic, 1866-1885

Bibliographic Data

ID23215414
AuthorsRobert J Smith (0000-0002-6529-3321), Katherine Auspitz
Year1983
Volume88
Issue1
Pages128
Publication date1983-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe American Historical Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-8762 • E-ISSN: 1937-5239
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/1869423
OpenAlexW2021385240
LanguageEN
Citations received9

The Radical Bourgeoisie traces the development of the political culture that sustained the Third Republic in France. It examines the centrality of education to Republican ideology and describes the political organization of the center-left alliance that coalesced in the Radical Party. Professor Auspitz challenges several widely held interpretations of modern French history and reassesses the role of French Radicals as thinkers and politicians. Against complaints of the left that they were petty bourgeois ideologues, of the right that they were dogmatic atheists, and of the center that they were small-minded and corrupt, Professor Auspitz attempts to vindicate the radicals as generous in their objectives, serious in their reflections, and effective in their strategies. The study also explains the importance of anticlericalism and of a new concern for the role of women and workers in defining an emerging secular culture.

Alliance · Bourgeoisie · Ideology · Petite bourgeoisie · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · European Political History Analysis · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Law

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