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Author Munck, Thomas.

Title The enlightenment : a comparative social history 1721-1794 / Thomas Munck
Published London : Arnold ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2000

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Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 MELB  940.253 Mun/Eac  AVAILABLE
Description xii, 249 pages ; 24 cm
Contents Machine generated contents note: Preface vii -- 1 The enlightenment 1 -- Enlightenment in national context 3 -- Enlightenment and counter-enlightenment 7 -- Nature, man and science 11 -- The 'public sphere' and its limits 14 -- Enlightenment and political power 18 -- 2 Tradition and communication in daily life 21 -- Popular and elite culture 22 -- Rural interaction and peasant action 26 -- Religious observance and beliefs 29 -- Processions, festivals and the use of open space 37 -- Street life, public entertainment and the theatre 40 -- 3 Broadening the horizon: ways and means 46 -- Literacy 46 -- Education 52 -- Prints, pictures and the eye of the beholder 60 -- Venues of contact, conversation and debate 65 -- Political radicalism in the 1790s 72 -- 4 Books and readers 76 -- Book production and distribution 77 -- Copyright and profits 80 -- Censorship before the reforms 84 -- Changing demand for books 89 -- Libraries and book clubs 98 -- The impact of the book: two case studies 99 -- Pamphlets and politics 103 -- 5 The press 106 -- The Tatler and the Spectator 109 -- The growth of press output and readership 111 -- The French-language press before the Revolution 117 -- The press, enlightenment and change 122 -- Revolutionary media 128 -- 6 Reason and the dissolution of certainties 132 -- State legislation on toleration 133 -- The churches under scrutiny 139 -- Censorship reform and state hesitations 142 -- The judiciary and the law 146 -- Crime and punishment 150 -- Treatment of the sick 156 -- 7 Property, the underprivileged and reform 163 -- Taxation 164 -- Political economy, cameralism and the physiocrats 168 -- Rural reform 172 -- Poverty 181 -- Slavery and enlightenment 186 -- 8 State, nation and individual in the late eighteenth century 193 -- Social structure, 'the people' and public consensus 194 -- Nation, homeland and patriotic identity 199 -- Political rights and representation in revolutionary France 203 -- Representing the other half: women and public life 211 -- The revolution of popular politics 214 -- 9 Conclusion 220 -- Select bibliography 224 -- Index 240
Summary "Thomas Munck shows not only what the enlightenment meant for high society, but also for broader and only partially educated social groups. In short, this book is about the widespread diffusion of the enlightenment, demonstrating persuasively how much more the enlightenment was than the intellectual achievements of a few great individuals and a 'bourgeois' salon culture. In the process of emancipation in this period from inherited values and beliefs, the changes can be studied at least as fruitfully from the vantage point of more ordinary individuals."--BOOK JACKET
Notes Includes index
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages [224]-239) and index
Subject Civilization, Modern -- 18th century.
Eighteenth century.
Enlightenment -- Influence.
Enlightenment -- Social aspects -- Europe.
Enlightenment.
Popular culture -- Europe -- History -- 18th century.
Social classes -- Europe -- History -- 18th century.
Enlightenment -- Europe.
SUBJECT Europe -- Civilization -- 18th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85045638
Europe -- Intellectual life -- 18th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85045728
Europe -- Social conditions -- 18th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85045757
Europe -- Social life and customs -- 18th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85045761
LC no. 2001265415
ISBN 0340663251 (paperback)
034066326X