Depuis l'ouvrage de John Pocock, The Machiavellian Moment. Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Tradition (1975), on conna t l'importance de James Harrington dans la pens e politique anglo-am ricaine la p riode moderne. Parce qu'au-del de l'acte de r sistance la tyrannie, il promeut la d mocratie et propose les moyens constitutionnels de mettre en oeuvre la souverainet populaire dans un pays de vaste tendue, Harrington a incarn une forme distinctive de r publicanisme.
En retra ant l'histoire de sa r ception dans la France des Lumi res, cet ouvrage a pour but de combler un hiatus entre le grand r cit pocockien du r publicanisme machiav lien et l'historiographie de la R volution fran aise. En cela, il s'inscrit dans le panorama bross en 2010 par l'historienne Rachel Hammersley, et va au-del . D'une part, il accorde Hume, Jaucourt ou Rousseau, aux c t s de ses nombreux traducteurs et commentateurs, un r le central dans l'actualisation de la pens e de Harrington. D'autre part, il montre que son h ritage intellectuel fut pluriel. Celui-ci n'est en effet pas seulement l'inspirateur de dispositions constitutionnelles sp cifiques: l'heure o se d veloppe l' conomie politique, Harrington appara t comme le penseur d'une galit relative des fortunes, per ue comme la seule base possible d'un ordre politique stable.
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John Pocock's book The Machiavellian Moment. Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Tradition (1975) has shown the importance of James Harrington in Anglo-American modern political thought. Beyond the act of resistance to tyranny, he vindicates democracy and provides the constitutional means for implementing popular sovereignty in a vast country. In doing so, Harrington has incarnated a distinctive form of republicanism.
By reconstructing the history of his reception in eighteenth century France, this book aims to bridge the gap between the great Pocockian narrative of Machiavellian republicanism and the historiography of the French Revolution. It is set against the panorama offered by Rachel Hammersley in 2010 and aims to go further. On the one hand, it shows how central Hume, Jaucourt or Rousseau have been in reviving Harrington's thought, along with his numerous translators and commentators. On the other hand, it shows that his intellectual legacy was diverse. He did not only stand as the inspirer of specific constitutional measures: as political economy developed, Harrington also appeared as the theoretician of a relative equality of wealth among the people, perceived by many as the true basis of a stable political order.
Industry Reviews
'This work is a significant contribution to the study of Franco-British intellectual exchanges during the "long eighteenth century". The material presentation, as always at the Voltaire Foundation, is impeccable, and the detailed table summarizing the "Elements of comparative chronology" proves very useful. This book expands our knowledge of foreign sources for the French Revolution. It will be of interest, beyond Anglicists, to historians and philosophers specializing in Great Britain as well as the French Enlightenment and the Revolution.'
Remy Duthille, XVII-XVIII
