Sharing Freedom
Republicanism and Exclusion in Revolutionary France

Sharing Freedom uncovers the revolutionary origins and the internal paradoxes of French republicanism.

Geneviève Rousselière (Author)

9781009477277, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 4 April 2024

268 pages
22.8 x 15 x 1.6 cm, 0.41 kg

'Rousselière ably demonstrates important trends in the Enlightenment era's understandings of liberty and of political inclusion and exclusion, and she is effective in showing how revolutionaries sought to universalize 'freedom on the basis of a tradition that had not been meant for that purpose'.' Micah Alpaugh, H-France Review

The French have long self-identified as champions of universal emancipation, yet the republicanism they adopted has often been faulted for being exclusionary – of women, foreigners, and religious and ethnic minorities. Can republicanism be an attractive alternative to liberalism, communism, and communitarianism, or is it fundamentally flawed? Sharing Freedom traces the development of republicanism from an older elitist theory of freedom into an inclusive theory of emancipation during the French Revolution. It uncovers the theoretical innovations of Rousseau and of revolutionaries such as Sieyès, Robespierre, Condorcet, and Grouchy. We learn how they struggled to adapt republicanism to the new circumstances of a large and diverse France, full of poor and dependent individuals with little education or experience of freedom. Analysing the argumentative logic that led republicans to justify the exclusion of many, this book renews the republican tradition and connects it with the enduring issues of colonialism, immigration, slavery, poverty and gender.

Introduction: On the Universalization of Republican Freedom
1. Plural Beginnings
2. Rousseau's Proposal
3. Revolutionary Republicanisms
4. The Paradox of Republican Emancipation
5. The Paradox of National Universalism
Conclusion: On French Republicanism.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA]