Society, Theory and the French Revolution

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Introduction: History and the Revolutionary Imaginary

   1. Introduction: History and the Revolutionary Imaginary

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 1-7

3. Revolution and Knowledge

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-9

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   2. Secularization and Representation: the Discovery of Society

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 11-22

   3. Volney’s Ruines: a Discursus on Religion and Enlightenment

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 23-33

   4. Science, Ideology and Social Transparency

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 34-48

4. Revolution and Power

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 49-49

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   2. Introduction: Knowledge without Power

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 51-54

   3. The Problematization of Power

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 55-64

   4. A Theoretical Interlude: Power and the Imaginary

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 65-70

   5. Despotism and Democracy: State and Society

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 71-89

5. Designating the Nation

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 91-91

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   2. The Abbé Sieyès and the Social Contract: the Nation behind the Polity

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 93-108

   3. Saint-Just against the Social Contract: Society without a Polity

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 109-123

6. Constructing the State

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 125-125

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   2. The Problem of Political Representation

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 127-132

   3. Power and Constitution: Civil vs Political Society

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 133-151

   4. Power and Will: Power Ascending

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 152-160

   5. Power and Action: Power Descending

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 161-179

   6. The Terror

      • Brian C. J. Singer

      Pages 180-201

This is a very different book about the French Revolution of 1789-94. The concern is less with a change in society than a change in the relation that a society establishes with itself. Here the focus is on society's presentation (and representation) considered not simply from the perspective of a few privileged intellectuals, but as a social and historical process inseparable from the institution of society's political dimension. Through a close reading of the revolutionary texts of the period, the author is able to trace behind the surface of events and conflict themes of a more abstract, fundamental character - themes relative to the 'discovery' of society, the construction of the nation-state, and what for the revolutionaries was the scandal of their separation. While retaining a fidelity to the eighteenth century, this book opens up new theoretical perspectives that illuminate the character of both a certain revolutionary heritage and a more general political modernity.

• democracy
• eighteenth century
• enlightenment
• history
• ideology
• nation
• Privileg
• revolution

BRIAN C. J. SINGER is a Lecturer in Social Science at York University, Ontario, and a Post-doctoral Fellow in Political Science at the University of Toronto.

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