Skip Navigation


French History Advance Access originally published online on November 2, 2007
French History 2007 21(4):450-472; doi:10.1093/fh/crm061
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
21/4/450    most recent
crm061v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wright, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for the Study of French History. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The State and the Left in modern France

Julian Wright*

* University of Durham. The author is Lecturer in Modern European History at Durham University, and deputy editor of French History

Correspondence: He may be contacted at julian.wright{at}dur.ac.uk.


  Abstract

French historians have recently begun to pursue the history of left-wing politics in a manner which suggests that the Marxist frame of reference has begun to disappear, even in this field of history. The eminent historian and public intellectual Pierre Rosanvallon is leading the way in the field of political and intellectual history, through his sustained examination of the State and the ongoing debate about French democracy. The connection between history and current political discourse is important, and it is significant that historians are attempting to revise common perceptions of the evolution of French political institutions. Wide areas of new research have been opened out and this article hopes to offer some reflections on how these new approaches to French political history may be used in future research.

Histoire des gauches en France, 2 vols. Edited by Jean-Jacques Becker and Gilles Candar. Paris: La Découverte. 2004 (2005). Vol. 1: L’héritage du XIXe siècle. 584 pp. {euro}39. ISBN 2 7071 3865 7. Vol. 2: XXe siècle: à l’épreuve de l’histoire. 776 pp. {euro}45. ISBN 2 7071 4209 3.

L’ambition et le remords: les socialistes français et le pouvoir (1905–2005). By Alain Bergounioux and Gérard Grunberg. Paris: Fayard. 2005. 606 pp. {euro}28. ISBN 2 213 62104 7.

Les socialismes français à l’épreuve du pouvoir: pour une critique mélancolique de la gauche. Edited by Philippe Corcuff and Alain Maillard. Paris: Les éditions Textuel. 2006. 207 pp. {euro}19. ISBN 2 84597 181 8.

The Demands of Liberty: Civil Society in France since the Revolution. By Pierre Rosanvallon. Translated by Arthur Goldhammer. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press. 2007. vi + 354 pp. £22.95. ISBN 978 067 402 4960.

Les politiques du Travail (1906–2006): acteurs, institutions, réseaux. Edited by Alain Chatriot, Odile Join-Lambert and Vincent Viet. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes. 2006. 518 pp. {euro}28. ISBN 978 2 7535 0392 2.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.