Carolina Armenteros | Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (original) (raw)

Books by Carolina Armenteros

Cornell University Press, 2011

This is a book about the beginnings of historical thinking as a philosophical enterprise. The his... more This is a book about the beginnings of historical thinking as a philosophical enterprise. The historical rupture represented by the French Revolution compelled contemporaries to reflect on the nature and meaning of history. For the generation educated in the downfall of a whole world, history was no longer dead and distant, as it had often been for the detached writers of the Enlightenment. It was alive in blood and fire. Some who remained religious during those years felt history with particular intensity, awakening suddenly to the fear that God might have abandoned humankind altogether, and that his ways through time must be discovered if faith was to be kept and defended. To many who experienced the Revolution, history properly understood revealed Providence’s designs. This book focuses on the historical thought of a man to whom the Revolution brought profound spiritual anxiety. And it tells the story of the quiet upheaval that his reflections, dispersed across political and philosophical boundaries, effected in nineteenth-century French thought and politics.

Classiques Garnier, 2018

Nous nous proposons d’étudier les commencements philosophiques de la pensée historique française ... more Nous nous proposons d’étudier les commencements philosophiques
de la pensée historique française au lendemain de la Révolution. Pour
la génération élevée dans l’écroulement d’un monde, l’histoire n’était
plus tenue à distance, comme elle l’avait souvent été par les écrivains
des Lumières. Elle s’écrivait en lettres de sang et de feu. Ceux qui sont
demeurés pieux pendant ces années ont éprouvé ceci avec une intensité
particulière, se réveillant soudainement à la crainte que Dieu avait
peut-être abandonné l’humanité, et que ses chemins dans l’histoire
devaient être découverts pour garder et défendre la foi. Pour plusieurs
contemporains de la Révolution, l’histoire bien comprise révélait les
desseins de la providence. Ce livre se concentre sur la pensée historique
d’un homme qui a éprouvé la Révolution avec une profonde anxiété
spirituelle. Il se propose de décrire l’onde de choc que ses réflexions,
dispersées à travers les frontières politiques et philosophiques, ont provoquées dans la pensée historique française au XIXe siècle.

Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza, 2018

Este libro narra los comienzos filosóficos del pensamiento histórico francés después de la Revolu... more Este libro narra los comienzos filosóficos del pensamiento histórico
francés después de la Revolución. Para la generación educada en el hundimiento de un mundo, la historia ya no era algo lejano, como lo había sido a menudo para los escritores de la Ilustración. Ahora se escribía con letras de sangre y fuego. Quienes siguieron siendo creyentes durante los años del trastorno lo experimentaron con especial intensidad, pues de repente despertó en ellos el temor de que Dios hubiera abandonado a la humanidad. Muchos de ellos recurrieron a la historia con la esperanza de que, bien entendida, revelaría los designios de la Providencia. Este libro se centra en el pensamiento histórico de un hombre que sintió la Revolución con una profunda ansiedad espiritual, y se propone describir la onda de choque que sus reflexiones, dispersas a través de las fronteras políticas y filosóficas, provocaron en el pensamiento histórico francés del siglo xix.

Edited books by Carolina Armenteros

A Companion to Italian Constitutional History (1804-1938): The House of Savoy and the Making of the Nation-State

This is the first account in English of the making of Italian nationhood from the perspective of ... more This is the first account in English of the making of Italian nationhood from the perspective of constitutional history. It is also the first to consider the role that the House of Savoy played in this process. Bringing together influential experts in the field, the collection covers the evolution of the Italian constitution from Russian diplomacy's little-known planning of the Risorgimento to the monarchy's demise after its clashes with fascism. Combining systematic coverage with original research, the volume includes such varied themes as the king's role in the Italian wars of independence, the Italian peninsula's forgotten charters of 1848, and the story of the ephemeral building that housed the first Italian parliament.

Historicising the French Revolution, 2008

Three decades ago, Francois Furet famously announced that the French Revolution was over. Napoleo... more Three decades ago, Francois Furet famously announced that the French Revolution was over. Napoleon's armies ceased to march around Europe long ago, and Louis XVIII even returned to occupy the throne of his guillotined brother. And yet the Revolution s memory continues to hold sway over imaginations and cultures around the world. This sway is felt particularly strongly by those who are interested in history: for the French Revolution not only altered the course of history radically, but became the fountainhead of historicism and the origin of the historical mentality. The sixteen essays collected in this volume investigate the Revolution s intellectual and material legacies. From popular culture to education and politics, from France and Ireland to Poland and Turkey, from 1789 to the present day, leading historians expose, alongside graduate students, the myriad ways in which the Revolution changed humanity s possible futures, its history, and the idea of history. They attest to how the Revolution has had a continuing global significance, and is still shaping the world today.

Studies in the History of Political Thought, 2011

Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, 2011

Esta colección de ensayos traza una línea en torno a las principales corrientes que describen el ... more Esta colección de ensayos traza una línea en torno a las principales corrientes que describen el pensamiento latinoamericano de este tiempo: decolonialidad y descolonialidad, posdesarrollo y postutilitarismo, postestructuralismo y postfuncionalismo, transmodernidad, emancipación y liberación, convivialidad, buen vivir y teoría del don.

The Court Historian, vol. 26, 1, 2021

At court, rituals were and are first and foremost a means of organising day-to-day life as well ... more At court, rituals were and are first and foremost a means of organising day-to-day life as well as special occasions such as dynastic events (weddings, baptisms, deaths) or political events (declarations of war, signing of peace treaties), which provided monarchs with opportunities to demonstrate their status and power to subjects and visiting dignitaries. Rank and ritual were defining elements of courtly life on the one hand and signs used by monarchs to represent sovereign powers on the other. Focusing the analysis on the issues of rank and ritual therefore allows for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of early modern European courts. The authors of the chapters in this volume discuss these two themes, analysing the correlation of rank and ritual and corresponding changes to rank and ritual through the examination of different models at early modern courts in Europe from the late fifteenth century to the eighteenth century.

St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture, 2010

That the works of Joseph de Maistre have continued to hold sway over both scholars and the gener... more That the works of Joseph de Maistre have continued to hold sway over
both scholars and the general public can be attributed in large part to his
abilities as a writer. Certainly, the contents of his thought – mention can
be made to his critique of the Enlightenment, his counter-revolutionary
attitudes, his defense of monarchy and Catholicism, his ultramontanism,
and his sociology – possess enduring interest for historians given their
innovativeness in their own time, and their continuing relevance in ours.
However Maistre’s ability to mould the French language into a new,
lively, memorable, and distinctive literary style has also contributed
significantly to the influence of his thought. Varied and surprising critics
and stylists, from Sainte-Beuve to Walter Benjamin, have been attracted to
Maistre precisely because of his aesthetic and literary skills. Although he
was a determined opponent of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as is the case with
Rousseau, Maistre’s influence owes much to the magic of his literary
style. The essays in this collection explore the nature and significance of
Maistre’s rhetoric.

Papers by Carolina Armenteros

A Companion to Italian Constitutional History: The House of Savoy and the Making of the Nation-State, 2023

This text introduces the first volume in English on the role that the House of Savoy played in th... more This text introduces the first volume in English on the role that the House of Savoy played in the making of Italian nationhood. Complementing traditional accounts of the Risorgimento as a popular left-wing movement, it recounts the roles of diplomatic and political elites, and especially of the Savoy dynasty, in the crafting of Italian identity. The investigation of these roles yields a series of original contributions to knowledge on the juridical and cultural history of the Italian state.

'This is the first account in English of the making of Italian nationhood from the perspective of constitutional history. It is also the first to consider the role that the House of Savoy played in this process. Bringing together influential experts in the field, the collection covers the evolution of the Italian constitution from Russian diplomacy's little-known planning of the Risorgimento to the monarchy's demise after its clashes with fascism. Combining systematic coverage with original research, the volume includes such varied themes as the king's role in the Italian wars of independence, the Italian peninsula's forgotten charters of 1848, and the story of the ephemeral building that housed the first Italian parliament.

As a founder of conservatism, Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821) made crucial contributions to histori... more As a founder of conservatism, Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821) made crucial contributions to historical thinking. Conceptualising history both as a conduit of human self-improvement and as a criterion of philosophical judgment, his conservatism was irretrievably historical. His theories of constitutions and of European government depended on a model of institutional development across time. His epistemology, historicised knowledge, and his sociology of violence posited that history arises out of the self. This paper reconstructs Maistre's historical thought by gathering together the five strands of it that he developed throughout his career, from his early essays on Rousseau to his posthumous mystical works. The aim is to describe the origins of a Francophone tradition of historical thought that crossed political boundaries easily and that has remained unexplored until now.

Dinamiche e politiche culturale nell'età di Leone XII, 2022

Le nomine di Leone XII alle cattedre di teologia di Roma sono forse gli atti più eloquenti della ... more Le nomine di Leone XII alle cattedre di teologia di Roma sono forse gli atti più eloquenti della politica culturale del suo pontificato. Al tempo della Restaurazione, quando la Rivoluzione francese aveva mostrato come l'educazione fosse la chiave per possedere le anime, scegliere coloro che avrebbero istruito i giovani sui temi più alti della salvezza e della natura di Dio era, in un certo senso, il gesto di politica culturale per eccellenza. Questo era el caso soprattutto alla luce delle vicissitudini papali a partire dall'inizio del secolo. Il successore di Pio VII non poteva che essere fin troppo consapevole della necessità di difendere un trono pontificio che, nel decennio precedente, era sembrato vacillare fino all'orlo del precipizio. Riempire le cattedre teologiche di Roma con teorici tradizionalisti del potere papale fu quindi una scelta naturale. Nel 1823 Della Genga nominò il gesuita Giovanni Perrone, allora ventinovenne, alla cattedra di teologia del CollegioRomano. Soprannominato "principe dei teologi", "esaminatore di vescovi" e consigliere di papi, Perrone sarebbe stato estremamente influente in via e completamente dimenticato dopo la sua morte. Nel 1825, per la Sapienza, il pontefice scelse il focoso Gioacchino Ventura, fervente seguace di Félicité de Lamennais che sognava di rivoluzionare l'università ma che dovette dimettersi un anno dopo la sua nomina. Oggetto di notorietà contemporanea e di una crescente letteratura accademica, Ventura era un patriota siciliano che avrebbe servito come Superiore Generale dell'ordine dei teatini e come ministro plenipotenziario di Sicilia a Roma.

St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture, 2010

The French Revolution was historically unprecedented in that it dragged every individual, willing... more The French Revolution was historically unprecedented in that it dragged every individual, willing or not, from the private world of domesticity onto a public realm governed by the tyranny of journalism. Weaving together the common threads of the papers presented The New enfant du siècle, Carolina Armenteros suggests that Joseph de Maistre’s compelled entry into history formed him as a writer – by obliging him to develop divergent writing personas, by subjecting him to the Revolution’s polemical paradigms, and by simply driving him to write.

Pasado y Memoria, 2021

El primer conservadurismo era una corriente política a veces reacia a comunicar sus ideas de mane... more El primer conservadurismo era una corriente política a veces reacia a comunicar sus ideas de manera directa, por lo que frecuentemente se expresaba a través de la historia y de la erudición. Desde las primeras descripciones jesuitas de la India en el siglo XVI hasta el ocaso del misticismo histórico-romántico trescientos años después, este
artículo narra la historia de la utopía clásico-indianista que acabaría transmitiendo los ideales del primer conservadurismo religioso. El texto examina, entre otros temas, la indología jesuita, el romanticismo alemán, la política educativa rusa y el misticismo francófono histórico-romántico. En lugar de considerar al orientalismo y los estudios clásicos como el entretenimiento inconsecuente de una élite educada, el artículo argumenta que estas ocupaciones formaron una parte integral de la civilización europea decimonónica. La utopía clásico-indianista contribuyó a fundar la etnología y la lingüística comparada, a fomentar la erudición histórica y científica, a crear nuevas instituciones públicas y a establecer las humanidades frente al cientismo como las bases de la educación europea. Desde un punto de vista metodológico, el artículo propone igualmente esta utopía como la clave de un movimiento político y religioso cuyos
ideales podrían de otra manera pasar desapercibidos o ser difíciles de vislumbrar.

Early conservatism was a political current sometimes reluctant to transmit ideas directly and often manifested through history and scholarship. This paper tells the story of the classical-Indianist utopia that would end up transmitting the ideals of early religious conservatism, from the first Jesuit descriptions of India in the sixteenth century to the decline of Romantic historical mysticism three hundred years later. Among other topics, Jesuit Indology, German Romanticism, Russian educational policy, and
Francophone Romantic historical mysticism are examined. Instead of viewing Orientalism and classical studies as the inconsequential entertainment of an educated elite, the article argues that these occupations were an integral part of nineteenth-century
European civilization. The classical-Indianist utopia contributed to founding ethnology and comparative linguistics, fostering historical and scientific scholarship, creating new public institutions, and opposing scientism by establishing the humanities as foundations of European education. From a methodological point of view, the article also proposes this utopia as the key to a political and religious movement whose ideals might otherwise pass unnoticed or be difficult to discern.

Cosmopolitan Conservatisms: Countering Revolution in Transnational Networks, Ideas and Movements, 2021

Few thinkers exemplify so clearly the cosmopolitan aspects of early conservatism as Lorenzo Hervá... more Few thinkers exemplify so clearly the cosmopolitan aspects of early conservatism as Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro (1735-1809), and probably none illustrate so amply how conservatism, cosmopolitanism, and scientific paradigms interact. In becoming, for his time, the best-informed linguist of all time, Hervás built an international network of collaborators who helped shape his scientific universalism and forge him as a major figure of the Spanish Counter-revolution. As he remarked, the gathering of the world’s ex-Jesuits in the Papal States following the suppression of the Society of Jesus created an opportunity unprecedented in the history of science. And as could only be expected, the French Revolution politicised Europe’s Catholic clergy. In Hervás’ case, politicization resulted in his composition of a major exemplar of early conservatism. As for his collaboration with fellow ex-Jesuits, it led to the discovery of the Austronesian language family, and to the first scientific proof of the parentage between Indian and European languages.

This essay examines how Hervás’ conservative sensibilities intertwined with his contributions to linguistics, and situates his politics and scholarship in the cosmopolitan environment that nurtured them. Arguing that Hervás was unique among the Spanish universalists, the article points out the crucial role that anthropology played not only in his thought, but more generally in the birth of early conservatism.

This text is the first contribution on Hervás in English.

The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theology, 1600-1800, 2014

Rousseau’s theology, like much of his philosophy, is paradoxical. It comprises both a rejection o... more Rousseau’s theology, like much of his philosophy, is paradoxical. It comprises both a rejection of traditional Christian dogma—notably original sin—as incommensurate with reason, and a defense of Christianity and political religion as institutions transcending the rationalism of the Enlightenment. His thoughts on religion thus unexpectedly comprise an anti-theological theology. This chapter discusses the private religion that Rousseau espoused in the Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar, and the civil religion he described in the last chapter of the Social Contract. Counter-intuitively, it points out that his fame as an anti-theologian derives from his anti-intellectualism and personal mystical inclinations. And it recounts the influence that his religious thought exercised in Europe until the turn of the nineteenth century.

Enlightenment and Catholicism in Europe: A Transnational History, 2013

Few thinkers have had as memorable an intellectual and political trajectory as Hugues-Félicité ... more Few thinkers have had as memorable an intellectual and political trajectory as Hugues-Félicité Robert de Lamennais (1782–1854). Tirelessly prolific and unwaveringly provocative, this was the firebrand who started his writing career as an ultramontane royalist and ended it as a radical democrat and champion of socialism. The divergence of the views he held across the years, coupled with the immensity of his oeuvre, probably explains why no scholar has yet been found who can master his writings and sympathize with his various intellectual personas to the extent of composing the definitive intellectual biography of him. Many of the events of his intellectual life therefore remain mysterious and, in part because of the rhetorical violence and political strife that accompanied them, deeply controversial. In this brief biography, however, I will try to untangle the patterns behind the dramas of Lamennais’s life, and I will argue that his intellectual trajectory was determined by two main factors. The first was his unique attempt to take the principles of the French Catholic Enlightenment to their final consequences. The second, which I expose toward the end of the essay, is the effect that his extraordinary personality had on the development of his views.

Cornell University Press, 2011

Classiques Garnier, 2018

Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza, 2018

A Companion to Italian Constitutional History (1804-1938): The House of Savoy and the Making of the Nation-State

Historicising the French Revolution, 2008

Studies in the History of Political Thought, 2011

Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, 2011

The Court Historian, vol. 26, 1, 2021

St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture, 2010

A Companion to Italian Constitutional History: The House of Savoy and the Making of the Nation-State, 2023

Dinamiche e politiche culturale nell'età di Leone XII, 2022

St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture, 2010

Pasado y Memoria, 2021

Cosmopolitan Conservatisms: Countering Revolution in Transnational Networks, Ideas and Movements, 2021

This text is the first contribution on Hervás in English.

The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theology, 1600-1800, 2014

Enlightenment and Catholicism in Europe: A Transnational History, 2013

International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity, 2019

At once neglected and deeply controversial, the Spanish Counter-Enlightenment is crucial to under... more At once neglected and deeply controversial, the Spanish Counter-Enlightenment is crucial to understanding the development of Spanish politics and social thought until at least the mid-twentieth century. From Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo's praise to Javier Herrero's deni-gration to the more balanced assessments of present-day scholars, the movement continues to be a source of debate and varying evaluations. Still, key aspects of it remain to be known, including its anthropology , its approach to Enlightened political concepts, its inheritance from Salamanca scholastics and its ideas on interiority and the relationship between the individual and the state. This paper defines these aspects by examining the works of five of the Spanish Counter-Enlightenment's major representatives: Fernando de Ceballos y Mier, (1732-1802), Vicente Fernández de Valcarce (1723-98), Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro (1735-1809), Francisco Alvarado (1756-1814) and Rafael de Vélez (1777-1850). The first aim is to identify what made the Spanish Counter-Enlightenment unique yet related to the French Counter-Enlightenment that nurtured and preceded it. The second aim is to provide a general overview of the movement even while introducing it to an English-speaking audience for the first time.

Journal of Jesuit Studies, 2019

Few authors of scholarly classics shy away from being acknowledged, but such is the case of the a... more Few authors of scholarly classics shy away from being acknowledged, but such is the case of the author of Moeurs et coutumes des Indiens (Mores and customs of the Indians) (1777) -- the first treatise of Indology and a classic of early anthropology -- whose real, Jesuit identity remained obscured for over two centuries. The author's concealment did not, however, prevent his work's regular re-editing, or its conveyance of an original methodology that helped found ethnography as a discipline and harmonized with enlightened conservatism. To date, this methodology has been read simply as a direct reply to enlightened authors, especially Voltaire, but this essay demonstrates that it derived also from the immersion of eighteenth-century Jesuits in Indian culture, and above all from the vast Indianist tradition that members of the Society of Jesus developed over two centuries of missionary work. Indeed, the story of Moeurs et coutumes discloses that, far from being limited to Europe, enlightened conservatism was a global discourse; and that beyond being invented by Europe's armchair philosophers, anthropology was a science born outside Europe from the pens of missionaries.

Women, Enlightenment and Catholicism: A Transnational Biographical History, 2018

Félicité de Genlis (1746-1830) was, without doubt, the foremost female representative of the Fren... more Félicité de Genlis (1746-1830) was, without doubt, the foremost female representative of the French Catholic Enlightenment. Virtuoso musician, courtier of princes, accomplished botanist, path-breaking pedagogue, admired thespian, society poet and the most popular and prolific French-language writer of her time, she cultivated indefatigably many and varied talents from childhood to her last day. In doing so she showed and defended all that a committed Catholic woman could be in the public sphere from Enlightenment to Restoration, in a long career that ensured the public’s acclaim throughout Europe. That she should have fallen into oblivion is therefore cause for wonder. Narrating her life and works, this essay attempts to dispel the mystery and recover her significance.

Revue électronique de littérature française, 2013

Little is known about the political thought of Félicité de Genlis (1746-1830) beyond the fact ... more Little is known about the political thought of Félicité de Genlis (1746-1830) beyond the fact that she became a royalist after the French Revolution. A wealth of clues to her politics, how- ever, is contained in the story of the Arcadia of Lagaraye in Adèle et Théodore, ou lettres sur l’éducation (1782). The figure of Lagaraye’s Legislator, in particular, shows that Genlis’ politi- cal thought is principally concerned with the emotional administration of political societies, and that it is so in ways that are both reminiscent and highly critical of the political preoccu- pations of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78). This essay examines the contrasts and corre- spondences between Lagaraye and the Arcadia of Clarens in Rousseau’s Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse (1762). It argues that although Genlis was a severe opponent of Rousseau’s ideas, she was also a covert adherent of his political philosophy who used it as a springboard to devel- op her own, unique form of monarchism.

Journal of the Philosophy of History, 2012

Rousseau, a philosopher of history? The suggestion may startle those who know him as an enemy of ... more Rousseau, a philosopher of history? The suggestion may startle those who know him as an enemy of history, the founder of Counter-Enlightenment who rejected his century's hope in progress and conjured quasi-utopias devoid of time. Alone, the political texts seem to justify this interpretation. Side by side with the Emile and Julie sagas, however, they disclose a new Rousseau, the weaver of a master plot that governs private and public history. This essay describes Jean-Jacques' over-arching narrative and the two main subnarratives that compose it by juxtaposing his political and fictional works. In doing so, it contests current conventions about his ideas on women, challenges assumptions about his educational ideals, retrieves new aspects of his debt to Fénelon, and foregrounds the pivotal role that the idea of 'true love' plays in his philosophy as the foundation of political community.

Joseph de Maistre and the Legacy of Enlightenment, 2011

American Political Science Association, 2011

Eric Voegelin's silence on Rousseau is striking. In the whole of his correspondence, and in the t... more Eric Voegelin's silence on Rousseau is striking. In the whole of his correspondence, and in the thirty-four volumes of his collected works, less than a dozen passages refer to Rousseau, and only a handful of these – comparatively short – engage with his thought. Given Rousseau’s towering stature in the history of philosophy, and considering Voegelin’s project to synthesize Western thought from antiquity to the present, one wonders at the immensity of such indifference. This paper examines Voegelin's references to Rousseau in an attempt to explain his reticence, and reconstruct his views on the Genevan.

Republics of Letters, 2013

Revue d'études proudhoniennes, 2020

The Anthem Companion to Auguste Comte, 2017

Historicising the French Revolution, 2008

The Dorchester Review, 2015

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Mystic? Mysticisim is usually the last thing that one associates with ma... more Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Mystic? Mysticisim is usually the last thing that one associates with major representatives of the European Enlighenment. Yet Rousseau not only had strong spiritual experiences, but these were formative moments of his intellectual life that seem to have inspired his political philosophy.

Global, 2017

La aculturación suele pensarse como un proceso violento fruto de la colonización, pero la histori... more La aculturación suele pensarse como un proceso violento fruto de la colonización, pero la historia nos presenta casos en que la propia cultura se propagó, pacífica y paradójicamente, a base de adaptarse al otro y apropiarse de su saber. Es así que los jesuitas europeos que fueron a la India en los siglos XVI, XVII y XVIII lograron un abrumador éxito proselitista al adoptar el modo de vida ascético de los yoguis sannyasis y al hacerse pasar por miembros de las altas castas hindúes. El saber que reunieron durante este proceso les permitió, además, convertirse en fundadores de la indología y la antropología

Russian Idea, 2016

My interview on Joseph de Maistre with Julia Netesova.

European History Quarterly, 2023

Review of Matthew D'Auria, The Shaping of French National Identity

Journal of Modern History

Review of Carole Dornier's book on the political thought of the abbé de Saint-Pierre.

H-France Forum, 2013

Review of Jonathan Israel's Democratic Enlightenment: Philosophy, Revolution, and Human Rights, 1... more Review of Jonathan Israel's Democratic Enlightenment: Philosophy, Revolution, and Human Rights, 1750-1790 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).

Review essay on A Virtue for Courageous Minds: Moderation in French Political Thought (2012) by A... more Review essay on A Virtue for Courageous Minds: Moderation in French Political Thought (2012) by Aurelian Craiutu and Revolution and the Republic: French Political Thought since the Eighteenth Century (2011)

European History Quarterly, 2010

The Catholic Historical Review, 2013

The Heythrop Journal, 2016

The Heythrop Journal, 2014

Review essay of Kate Holland's The Novel in the Age of Disintegration: Dostoevsky and the Problem... more Review essay of Kate Holland's The Novel in the Age of Disintegration: Dostoevsky and the Problem of Genre in the 1870s (2013) and Daphna Erdinast-Vulcan's Between Philosophy and Literature: Bakhtin and the Question of the Subject (2013)

Dictionnaire Chateaubriand, 2024

Ce texte est une synthèse du rôle de Montesquieu dans l'œuvre de Chateaubriand.

Encyclopedia of Political Theory, 2010

Encyclopedia of Political Thought, 2014

Europe’s past is overwhelmingly monarchical, yet the monarchies that remain in place today hardly... more Europe’s past is overwhelmingly monarchical, yet the monarchies that remain in place today hardly resemble those that governed Europe at the end of the Middle Ages. Modernity has transformed monarchy from a matter of unquestioned and often sacred fact to a matter of largely secular and usually democratic choice. If the words remain the same – along with many of the families, their titles, properties and places of residence – their meaning has changed profoundly over time and across countries, so much so that, along the centuries, the working mechanisms, functions and powers of European monarchy have been transformed. The academic literature, however, seldom measures this distance between monarchy’s various historical meanings and its surprisingly frequent manifestations today.
In theoretical and speculative disciplines, the lack of inquiry into monarchy’s significance is due partly to disciplinary divisions. Political theorists and intellectual historians rarely delve into the subject of monarchy, while historians of monarchy tend to focus on chronology rather than concepts. Monarchy’s own nature has helped determine these divisions. With its providentialist, semi-magic and mysterious foundations in the divine right of kings, monarchism is a double paradox, a form of political theory that is at once anti-political and anti-theoretical. Innovatively, this conference seeks to break disciplinary barriers by combining the outlooks of monarchical specialists on the one hand, and of social, cultural, and political theorists on the other.
Proceeding from the premise that the nature of things is best known, and their development most determined, during critical times, this conference centers on three (long) key moments in the history of modern European monarchy: the English Revolution, the French Revolution, and the mainstreaming of republicanism during the first half of the twentieth century. These moments, however, are only referential, and presentations studying the reinvention, representation and conceptualisation of monarchy during other modern periods, from 1500 to the present, are also welcome, with Renaissance subjects possibly serving as introits and contemporary ones as epilogues to the conference.
The main lines of inquiry are twofold, one directed at monarchy’s political significance, and the other at its socio-cultural, psychological, religious and spiritual roles. The political-conceptual line of inquiry can include – without being limited to – European monarchy’s historical relationship to legislation and the administration of justice, as well as democratic, republican, and aristocratic traditions. The theological/sociological/anthropological perspective is instead concerned with monarchy as a series of rituals, processions, celebrations and formal procedures that represent sovereignty, organise time and relationships, lend nations a sense of identity, and connect individuals emotionally with sacred spaces and powers, especially as represented by the Catholic and Protestant religions.