The Making of Capitalism in France: Class Structures, Economic Development, the State and the Formation of the French Working Class, 1750-1914

Very Few Authors Have Addressed The Origins Of Capitalism In France As The Emergence Of A Distinct Form Of Historical Society, Premised On A New Configuration Of Social Power, Rather Than As An Extension Of Commercial Activities Liberated From Feudal Obstacles. Lafrance Offers The First Thorough Historical Analysis Of The Origins Of Capitalist Social Property Relations In France From A 'political Marxist' Or (capital-centric Marxist) Perspective. Putting Emphasis On The Role Of The State, 'the Making Of Capitalism In France' Shows How The Capitalist System Was First Imported Into This Country In An Industrial Form, And Considerably Later Than Is Usually Assumed. This Work Demonstrates That The French Revolution Was Not Capitalist, And In Fact Consolidated Customary Regulations That Formed The Bedrock Of The Formation Of The Working Class. Problematising Capitalism -- Importing Capitalism To France -- The Old Regime False Start : Attempts At Liberal Reforms And The Absence Of A Transition To Capitalism In Absolutist France -- Absolutist France Vs Capitalist England -- British Competition And French Liberal Reactions -- An Extensive Mode Of Economic Development -- Non-capitalist Industrialisation In Post-revolutionary France -- Nineteenth-century France Economic Development : The Revisionist Account -- Contrasting French And English Nineteenth-century Industrial Development -- The Non-competitive Nature Of French Markets -- The Development Of Cotton Production And Metallurgy -- Opportunity-driven Growth In Non-competitive Markets -- The French Revolution And The Customary Regulation Of Labour -- Reassessing The French Revolution -- Guilds And Workers' Struggles Under The Old Regime -- The Persistence Of Customary Regulations And Aspects Of Labour Emancipation In Post-revolutionary France -- The Absence Of Labour Subsumption By Capital In Post-revolutionary France -- The Rise Of The French Working Class : Republican And Socialist Struggles Against Extra-economic Exploitation -- The Composition And The Making Of The French Working Class -- Notables, The State, And The Perpetuation Of Non-capitalist Surplus Appropriation -- Pinning Down Social Ills, Naming The Antagonists -- The Revolution Of 1830 And The Rise Of A Republican-socialist Working Class -- The Revolution Of 1848 And The (interrupted) Rise Of The Democratic And Social Republic -- The State-led Capitalist Transformation Of French Industry -- Geopolitical Competition And Capitalist Industrialisation -- Building Foundations: The Making Of A Competitive Market -- The Erosion Of Customary Regulations And The Subsumption Of Labour -- The Emergence Of Capitalist Patterns Of Investment -- Changing Modes Of Surplus Appropriation And (partial) State Restructuring -- Capitalism And The Re-making Of The French Working Class -- The Re-composition Of The Working Class -- The Labour Movement Under The Second Empire And The Paris Commune -- The Rise Of The Strike : Refusing The Depoliticisation Of Production -- The Transformation Of Class Relations And The Rise Of An Autonomous Socialist Working-class Movement -- Conclusion -- References -- Index. By Xavier Lafrance. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.