Manufacturing Revolutionary Culture: The Rise of the French Bourgeoisie

Author ORCiD

0009-0002-6533-221X

College

College of Arts and Letters

Department

International Studies

Graduate Level

Doctoral

Graduate Program/Concentration

International Studies

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Abstract

The free press is often feared by authoritarians for its revolutionary potential. The French Revolution of 1789 is an iconic example of the weaponized free press seemingly destabilizing the government and leading social change. Several more revolutions in France followed 1789, however, and I argue that the French Revolutions throughout the “Long Century” (late 1700s to early 1900s) were expressions of a larger revolutionary cycle rather than isolated events.

Media is a culture producer that is generally used to manufacture culture that maintains the current status quo. However, if countercultural actors (such as revolutionaries) begin using media to produce culture that is incongruent with the status quo, that causes social destabilization and the potential for social change.

Within the French Revolutions, the bourgeoisie were an emerging socioeconomic class (the class of capital), gaining more economic importance and class consciousness. Historically, the aristocracy (the landed class) had controlled the French press. Increasingly, though, the bourgeoisie was entering ownership of media and its production. This enabled the emerging bourgeoisie to use the press to produce counterculture damaging to the aristocracy and favorable to the bourgeoisie. The aristocracy struggled to control the media. Accordingly, the bourgeoisie consistently fought for the right to a free press, as it afforded them more power in realizing their class ambitions.

Effectively, the press served as a tool the bourgeoisie used to displace and then replace the aristocracy as the elite social class by producing a destabilizing revolutionary counterculture.

Keywords

Media, free press, social change, bourgeoisie, class conflict, revolution, culture, France, French Revolution

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Manufacturing Revolutionary Culture: The Rise of the French Bourgeoisie

The free press is often feared by authoritarians for its revolutionary potential. The French Revolution of 1789 is an iconic example of the weaponized free press seemingly destabilizing the government and leading social change. Several more revolutions in France followed 1789, however, and I argue that the French Revolutions throughout the “Long Century” (late 1700s to early 1900s) were expressions of a larger revolutionary cycle rather than isolated events.

Media is a culture producer that is generally used to manufacture culture that maintains the current status quo. However, if countercultural actors (such as revolutionaries) begin using media to produce culture that is incongruent with the status quo, that causes social destabilization and the potential for social change.

Within the French Revolutions, the bourgeoisie were an emerging socioeconomic class (the class of capital), gaining more economic importance and class consciousness. Historically, the aristocracy (the landed class) had controlled the French press. Increasingly, though, the bourgeoisie was entering ownership of media and its production. This enabled the emerging bourgeoisie to use the press to produce counterculture damaging to the aristocracy and favorable to the bourgeoisie. The aristocracy struggled to control the media. Accordingly, the bourgeoisie consistently fought for the right to a free press, as it afforded them more power in realizing their class ambitions.

Effectively, the press served as a tool the bourgeoisie used to displace and then replace the aristocracy as the elite social class by producing a destabilizing revolutionary counterculture.