L'héritage infernal : Jacobinisme et politique

Denis Berger, The Infernal Heritage - Jacobinism and Politics A major element of the French Revolution, jacobinism was subsequently made into a myth and, thus, a model. Going beyond its ideological references and its social composition, it is necessary to determine what type of political behavior jacobinism represented in a period when the revolutionary process required innovation. Study of the activities and speeches of jacobin leaders hostile to the direct democracy advocated by the sans-culottes reveals a conception of authoritarian centralization designed to create or to reinforce the State. Jacobin rhetoric, especially in its defense of Virtue, was a rationalization intended to justify the substitution of the elite for the people in the name of an ideal conception of the people. In this sense, jacobinism anticipated a certain bureaucratic behavior which, after having influenced the contemporary labor movement, has become a major element of its present crisis.Berger Denis. L'héritage infernal : Jacobinisme et politique. In: L'Homme et la société, N. 94, 1989. Dissonances dans la Révolution. pp. 94-115