Geneviève Rousselière's "Sharing Freedom" examines the evolution of French republicanism, tracing its transformation from an elitist theory to a more inclusive model during the French Revolution. The book analyzes the theoretical contributions of key figures like Rousseau, Sieyès, Robespierre, Condorcet, and Grouchy, highlighting their efforts to adapt republican ideals to a diverse and largely uneducated populace. Rousselière explores the inherent paradoxes within republican discourse, particularly the tension between universal emancipation and historical exclusions. The work challenges conventional narratives of French republicanism, offering a nuanced perspective on its complexities and contradictions. Ultimately, "Sharing Freedom" provides valuable insights into the enduring challenges of achieving inclusive citizenship and freedom.
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: Republicanism and Exclusion in Revolutionary France (Cambridge UP, 2024) 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.
Geneviève Rousselière is a Franco-American political theorist. She is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Duke University. She is the co-editor of Republicanism and the Future of Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2019).
Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter.
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