Abstract
In his history of economic thought, the French economist Blanqui provides an historical survey of the universal existence of privileges, taxes, and fiscal regulations which have pitted two classes against each for centuries, namely those who live by their own labor and those who live by the labor of others. Over time this unequal relationship was turned into a system of class control and exploitation, but this system has been repeatedly challenged by insurrections and revolutions, especially the American and French revolutions. He concludes that the class “which neither kills nor pillages” needs to have its history written.
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- 1.
Editor’s note: Blanqui doesn’t use word “classes” but “on” = “les parties.”
- 2.
Editor’s note: a peasant rebellion of 1358.
- 3.
Editor’s note: the date of the official legal abolition of feudalism in France.
- 4.
Editor’s note: Juan López de Padilla (1490–1521), one of the leaders of the Castilian rebellion against the Holy Roman Empire.
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Hart, D.M., Chartier, G., Kenyon, R.M., Long, R.T. (2018). Adolphe Blanqui, “The Class Which Does Not Kill or Pillage” (1837). In: Hart, D., Chartier, G., Kenyon, R., Long, R. (eds) Social Class and State Power. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64894-1_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64894-1_13
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