Synopses & Reviews
As a nineteenth-century think tank that sought answers to Franceandrsquo;s pressing andldquo;social question,andrdquo; the Musandeacute;e Social reached across political lines to forge a reformist alliance founded on an optimistic faith in social science. In
A Social Laboratory for Modern France Janet R. Horne presents the story of this institution, offering a nuanced explanation of how, despite centuries of deep ideological division, the French came to agree on the basic premises of their welfare state.
Horne explains how Musandeacute;e founders believedandmdash;and convinced others to believeandmdash;that the Third Republic would carry out the social mission of the French Revolution and create a new social contract for modern France, one based on the rights of citizenship and that assumed collective responsibility for the victims of social change. Challenging the persistent notion of the Third Republic as the stagnant backwater of European social reform, Horne instead depicts the intellectually sophisticated and progressive political culture of a generation that laid the groundwork for the rise of a hybrid welfare system, characterized by a partnership between private agencies and government. With a focus on the cultural origins of turn-of-the-century thoughtandmdash;including religion, republicanism, liberalism, solidarism, and early sociologyandmdash;A Social Laboratory for Modern France demonstrates how French reformers grappled with social problems that are still of the utmost relevance today and how they initiated a process that gave the welfare state the task of achieving social cohesion within an industrializing republic.
Review
andldquo;Janet Horneandrsquo;s book provides not only an excellent history of the Musandeacute;e Social but also an important new perspective on the activities of turn-of-the-twentieth-century reform networks. It demonstrates that the Musandeacute;e Social constituted a unique French institution, free from Jacobin, centralizing pressures,where experts, intellectuals, and administrators could interact among themselves. Her work reveals the misunderstood but essential role played by independent reformers in the modernization of France.andrdquo;andmdash;Pierre Rosanvallon, directeur d'andeacute;tudes andagrave; l'Ecole des hautes andeacute;tudes en sciences sociales
Review
andldquo;This book is far more than the history of a single institution. It is also a thoughtful examination of political ideology and social discourse in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and an important and convincing argument about the origins of social policy in the Third Republic.andrdquo;andmdash;Don Reid, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Review
andldquo;[An] elegantly presented book . . . . andldquo; - Maurice Larkin, Times Literary Supplement
Review
andquot;This is an extremely useful analysis for anyone interested not only in French social welfare, but also in the history of the parapolitical sphere, associational life among France's elite, and the shifting boundaries between public and private. . . . Horne has done an excellent job of widening the scope of social welfare history, giving us all a whole new range of actors and issues to contemplate.andquot; - Steve M. Beaudoin, Journal of Social History
Review
andquot;[An] accomplished book.andquot; - Elizabeth Sage, Journal of Modern History
Review
andquot;Horne's excellent book is a welcome addition to a growing body of historical works on the late nineteenth-century origins of the French welfare state.andquot; - Joshua Cole, Social History
Synopsis
As a nineteenth-century think tank that sought answers to France's pressing "social question," the Musee Social reached across political lines to forge a reformist alliance founded on an optimistic faith in social science. In A Social Laboratory for Modern France Janet R. Horne presents the story of this institution, offering a nuanced explanation of how, despite centuries of deep ideological division, the French came to agree on the basic premises of their welfare state.
Horne explains how Musee founders believed--and convinced others to believe--that the Third Republic would carry out the social mission of the French Revolution and create a new social contract for modern France, one based on the rights of citizenship and that assumed collective responsibility for the victims of social change. Challenging the persistent notion of the Third Republic as the stagnant backwater of European social reform, Horne instead depicts the intellectually sophisticated and progressive political culture of a generation that laid the groundwork for the rise of a hybrid welfare system, characterized by a partnership between private agencies and government. With a focus on the cultural origins of turn-of-the-century thought--including religion, republicanism, liberalism, solidarism, and early sociology--A Social Laboratory for Modern France demonstrates how French reformers grappled with social problems that are still of the utmost relevance today and how they initiated a process that gave the welfare state the task of achieving social cohesion within an industrializing republic.
Synopsis
Documents the early days of the French welfare state through the Musée Social, an early think tank.
About the Author
“[An] elegantly presented book . . . . “ - Maurice Larkin, Times Literary Supplement"This is an extremely useful analysis for anyone interested not only in French social welfare, but also in the history of the parapolitical sphere, associational life among France's elite, and the shifting boundaries between public and private. . . . Horne has done an excellent job of widening the scope of social welfare history, giving us all a whole new range of actors and issues to contemplate." - Steve M. Beaudoin, Journal of Social History"[An] accomplished book." - Elizabeth Sage, Journal of Modern History"Horne's excellent book is a welcome addition to a growing body of historical works on the late nineteenth-century origins of the French welfare state." - Joshua Cole, Social History“Janet Horne’s book provides not only an excellent history of the Musée Social but also an important new perspective on the activities of turn-of-the-twentieth-century reform networks. It demonstrates that the Musée Social constituted a unique French institution, free from Jacobin, centralizing pressures,where experts, intellectuals, and administrators could interact among themselves. Her work reveals the misunderstood but essential role played by independent reformers in the modernization of France.”—Pierre Rosanvallon, directeur d'études à l'Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales“This book is far more than the history of a single institution. It is also a thoughtful examination of political ideology and social discourse in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and an important and convincing argument about the origins of social policy in the Third Republic.”—Don Reid, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill