The Moral Economy in post-revolutionary France

Abstract

This research attempts to evaluate a recent Marxist interpretation regarding the existence of a moral economy in post-revolutionary France. This framework, constructed by Xavier Lafrance, is questioned by engaging with letters and transcripts exchanged between the local institution of a labour court and the national government in the period between 1818 and 1848. Special attention is given to the historiographical debate from which this interpretation stems. Lafrance contends, against the dominant branch of the historiography, that the transition to French capitalism occurred in the 1860s, and not as a result of the French Revolution of 1789. From the results, the study concludes that Lafrance’s claim of a moral economy stands, though the empirical findings do not substantiate his interpretation of a later transition to industrial capitalist practices in France.