Book contents
- Sharing Freedom
- Sharing Freedom
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Editions, Translations, and Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Plural Beginnings
- 2 Rousseau’s Proposal
- 3 Revolutionary Republicanisms
- 4 The Paradox of Republican Emancipation
- 5 The Paradox of National Universalism
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - The Paradox of National Universalism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2024
- Sharing Freedom
- Sharing Freedom
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Editions, Translations, and Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Plural Beginnings
- 2 Rousseau’s Proposal
- 3 Revolutionary Republicanisms
- 4 The Paradox of Republican Emancipation
- 5 The Paradox of National Universalism
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 5 presents the paradox of national universalism as a theoretical explanation of French republicans’ historical tendency to exclude foreigners and minorities. It retraces the formation of the discourse of “nation” alongside that of “people” as well as the development of nationalism alongside the discourse of universalism. It analyzes the tension caused by the conjunction of two phenomena: the existence (or supposition of) a historical nation, and the declaration of universalism on which the revolution based itself. Finally, the chapter presents education policies and civil religion during the French revolution as two instances of the paradox of national universalism.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Sharing FreedomRepublicanism and Exclusion in Revolutionary France, pp. 183 - 222Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024