From Artisan to Worker: Guilds, the French State, and the Organization of Labor, 1776-1821

by Michael P. Fitzsimmons

Overview

From Artisan to Worker examines the largely overlooked debate over the potential reestablishment of guilds that occurred from 1776 to 1821. The abolition of guilds in 1791 overturned an organization of labor that had been in place for centuries. The disorder that ensued – from concerns about the safety of the food supply to a general decline in the quality of goods – raised strong doubts about their abolition and sparked a debate both inside and outside of government that went on for decades. The issue of the reestablishment of guilds, however, subsequently became intertwined with the growing mechanization of production. Under the Napoleonic regime, the government considered several projects to restore guilds in a large-scale fashion, but the counterargument that guilds could impede mechanization prevailed. After Bonaparte’s fall, the restored Bourbon dynasty was expected to reorganize guilds, but its sponsorship of an industrial exhibition in 1819 signaled its endorsement of mechanization, and after 1821 there were no further efforts to restore guilds during the Restoration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521193764
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/08/2010
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Michael P. Fitzsimmons is Professor of History at Auburn University Montgomery. His previous works include The Parisian Order of Barristers and the French Revolution, The Remaking of France, and The Night the Old Regime Ended, in addition to articles appearing in multiple scholarly journals.

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. The decline and demise of guilds, 1776–91; 2. The new regime begins, 1792–9; 3. The re-emergence of guilds as a policy issue, 1800–11; 4. The triumph of mechanization, 1812–21; Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

By placing the debate between advocates of the guild system and proponents of industrial mechanization in its long-term context, Michael Fitzsimmons has produced a richly documented study that is remarkably wide ranging and insightful. Better yet, From Artisan to Worker places economic considerations at the heart of politics and demonstrates that state policy formulation was as much a product of pragmatic responses to circumstance as ideology or political culture.” – Robert Alexander, University of Victoria

“From Artisan to Worker emphasizes how many continuities, and also contingencies, lay behind the apparent principled radicalism of revolutionary gestures. All this makes for a contribution of the first importance not only to the history of the French Revolution but to European industrial and commercial history in general, not to mention that of economic thought.” – William Doyle, University of Bristol

“This book examines the labor market in France across the turbulent years from the Bourbon monarchy of the eighteenth century to the Restoration after 1815. Much of Michael Fitzsimmons’s earlier work focused on guilds and corporate privilege, and the present study builds on his understanding of how the guild structures worked. Here his lens is wider – the transformation of the French workplace from the artisan economy of the Old Regime to the labor force of the modern era. In turn he examines the end of corporatism, the economic deregulation of the French revolutionary decade, the bitter faction-fighting of the Napoleonic years, and the return to regulation that came with increasing mechanization after 1811. The time frame he selects is convincing, and the book offers useful insights on the economic impact of the Revolution and Empire.” – Alan Forrest, The University of York

“Corporations rather than markets were the model for organizing work and consumption in eighteenth-century France. When the National Assembly abolished guilds and economic regulations in 1791, it unwittingly opened up a mass experiment in the creation of new social, economic, and legal institutions. Michael Fitzsimmons’s groundbreaking work illuminates how French society responded to that challenge. Fitzsimmons brilliantly describes how the political context of the Revolution shaped the emergence of new kinds of institutions to coordinate social and economic behavior and new ideals of social and economic liberty. The work revises our understanding of the relationship between work and revolution and offers real insights into the many paths of economic modernization.” – James Livesey, University of Sussex

"...a well-written addition to a welcome new approach to economic history, much needed in university courses." -Pamela Pilbeam, History

"Fitzimmon's meticulous account of how successive legislatures discussed and dismissed the recurring popularity of guilds is a model of political history...[his] book is an important account showing how the French government supported the birth of the industrial revolution before reliance on institutions of the Old Regime had been put to rest." - Daryl M. Hafter, American Historical Review

"...this book makes a significant contribution to the historiography on work in modern Europe." -Christine Hayes, Journal of Modern History

"In this thoughtful study Fitzsimmons has provided an excellent analysis of the transition away from guilds and the resulting shift from eighteenth-century to nineteenth-century workers." -Michael R. Lynn, Canadian Journal of History

"...an original contribution to the history of work that deserves a broad readership." -European History Quarterly

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