The making of capitalism in France : class structures, economic development, the state and the formation of the French working class, 1750-1914 / by Xavier Lafrance.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lafrance, Xavier, author.

Series:

Historical materialism book series ; 189.

Historical materialism book series ; 189

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Capitalism--France--History.

Capitalism.

Economic development--France--History.

Economic development.

Industrialization--France--History.

Industrialization.

Working class--France--History.

Working class.

History.

France.

Economic history.

France--Economic conditions.

Economic conditions.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

viii, 311 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Boston : Brill, [2019]

Summary:

Very few authors have addressed the origins of capitalism in France as the emergence of a distinct form of historical society, premised on a new configuration of social power, rather than as an extension of commercial activities liberated from feudal obstacles. Lafrance offers the first thorough historical analysis of the origins of capitalist social property relations in France from a 'political Marxist' or (Capital-centric Marxist) perspective. Putting emphasis on the role of the state, 'The Making of Capitalism in France' shows how the capitalist system was first imported into this country in an industrial form, and considerably later than is usually assumed. This work demonstrates that the French Revolution was not capitalist, and in fact consolidated customary regulations that formed the bedrock of the formation of the working class.

Contents:

Problematising capitalism

Importing capitalism to France

The old regime false start : attempts at liberal reforms and the absence of a transition to capitalism in absolutist France

Absolutist France vs capitalist England

British competition and French liberal reactions

An extensive mode of economic development

Non-capitalist industrialisation in post-revolutionary France

Nineteenth-century France economic development : the revisionist account

Contrasting French and English nineteenth-century industrial development

The non-competitive nature of French markets

The development of cotton production and metallurgy

Opportunity-driven growth in non-competitive markets

The French revolution and the customary regulation of labour

Reassessing the French revolution

Guilds and workers' struggles under the old regime

The persistence of customary regulations and aspects of labour emancipation in post-revolutionary France

The absence of labour subsumption by capital in post-revolutionary France

The rise of the French working class : republican and socialist struggles against extra-economic exploitation

The composition and the making of the French working class

Notables, the state, and the perpetuation of non-capitalist surplus appropriation

Pinning down social ills, naming the antagonists

The revolution of 1830 and the rise of a republican-socialist working class

The revolution of 1848 and the (interrupted) rise of the democratic and social republic

The state-led capitalist transformation of French industry

Geopolitical competition and capitalist industrialisation

Building foundations: the making of a competitive market

The erosion of customary regulations and the subsumption of labour

The emergence of capitalist patterns of investment

Changing modes of surplus appropriation and (partial) state restructuring

Capitalism and the re-making of the French working class

The re-composition of the working class

The labour movement under the second empire and the Paris Commune

The rise of the strike : refusing the depoliticisation of production

The transformation of class relations and the rise of an autonomous socialist working-class movement

Conclusion

References

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Lafrance, Xavier, author. Making of capitalism in France

ISBN:

9789004276321

9004276327

OCLC:

1078882337

Publisher Number:

99980819959