The French Revolution: Political Theory and Culture

The French Revolution is the key event of political modernity. This course examines both its core political concepts and their expression in the general culture of the time. Revolutionary ideas - citizenship, democracy, the nation-state, dictatorship, liberty, equality, representation, progress, human rights - reshaped the norms not only of politics, but also of literature and art. To understand these innovations, we will concentrate on: the theories that laid the foundations for the Revolution; literary and theoretical texts from the major acts of the revolutionary period; artistic and political responses to the Revolution up until today.