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The Bourgeois after the Bourgeois Revolution

Recent Approaches to the Middle Class in European Cities

University of South Carolina

Recent research on the French Revolution and Industrial Revolution has questioned the notion of the bourgeoisie as the revolutionary class of the nineteenth century. European historians thus face the challenge of developing new accounts of a middle class or bourgeoisie that do not depend on Marxist narratives of the dual revolutions. Scholars’ responses have moved in two apparently divergent directions. One account focuses on language, arguing that the middle class is essentially a linguistic construction, largely independent of any socioeconomic referent, that functions as a political tool. The second account emphasizes cultural practice, finding markers of class in aspects of daily life such as sociability or consumer behavior. The article concludes with a discussion of the differences between these two approaches and suggests that historians can, in fact, incorporate both in a revised understanding of a European bourgeoisie.

Key Words: middle class • bourgeoisie • historiography • Great Britain • France

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