The Path Not Taken: French Industrialization in the Age of Revolution, 1750-1830

摘要

The main aim of this book is to overcome traditional conceptions of industrialization as something which only achieved its proper forms in the laissez-faire environment of Great Britain. The French did industrialize, the author asserts, but they did not take the British path. This is shown by pointing to real processes and conditions of industrialization within France, but also by revising old assumptions about the role of the British state in British industrialization in order to emphasize the interventionist role of the British state in this process. The book goes beyond the dry account of technical and economic development often seen in studies of industrialization. Written by a North American specialist in French political and social history of the period, the book analyzes interrelations between industrialization and broader political, social and cultural processes. In particular, it highlights patterns of social struggle from below and its effects on patterns of economic development, as well as contemporary social discourse on industrialization strategies. Perhaps its most interesting aspect in this regard is the accounts of specific social struggles, including machine-breaking during the Revolution.