Introduction

Abstract

In his sociological study of the early twentieth century, Le vagabond: ses origines, sa psychologie, ses formes, la lutte contre le vagabondage (The Vagabond: His Origins, Psychology, Forms and the Fight against Vagabondage), Armand Pagnier claims to paint a comprehensive portrait of vagabonds so that, subsequently, he may propose ways in which to eliminate them and their ill effects from French society. Paratextual clues on the title page—in particular, Le d échet social (social refuse)—announce that this work was published as part of a larger series that sought to analyze, categorize, and propose solutions to problems threatening well-mannered society. Le criminel et les classes sociales (The Criminal and Social Classes), Pagnier’s concurrent project mentioned on the page opposite Le vagabond’s title page, can also be grouped in the d échet social series.² Certainly as a reflection of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century France’s desire to categorize social outcasts, Pagnier’s work aims to help society triumph through recognition and control of those who had previously escaped from, upset, and consequently put into question its regulatory grasp.

In revolutions […] the active role is played by the weak or the impulsive, vagabonds and women. ¹