Carolyn J Eichner | University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (original) (raw)

Books by Carolyn J Eichner

Papers by Carolyn J Eichner

L’Histoire. Les Collections: La Commune. Le grand rêve de la démocratie directe , 2021

Mediapart (part 4 of a 4-part series, “Le projet colonial en Nouvelle-Calédonie”). Paris, France, August 23 , 2018

I am interviewed by journalist Lucie Delaporte, on the eve of New Caledonia's independence vote, ... more I am interviewed by journalist Lucie Delaporte, on the eve of New Caledonia's independence vote, regarding the 19th-century French anarchist feminist Louise Michel. Examining questions of anti-imperialism and its intersections with feminist and anarchist politics, we discuss Michel's exile to the New Caledonian penal colony in the aftermath of the 1871 Paris Commune, her engagement with indigenous Kanak culture, and her support for the Kanak's 1878 uprising against French imperial rule.

French Historical Studies, Jan 1, 2009

Book Reviews by Carolyn J Eichner

American Historical Review, 2022

Journal of Modern History, 2019

Through the 134 years since its brutal demise, the 1871 Paris Commune has remained steadfast in t... more Through the 134 years since its brutal demise, the 1871 Paris Commune has remained steadfast in the historical imaginary. A shining, hopeful, yet tragic moment for the left, and a triumphantly quashed, nightmarish specter for the right, the Commune stands as a touchstone for movements and ideologies. Ranging from likening American Indians to savage Communards; to Teddy Roosevelt's 1896 campaign threat that if elected, his opponent would govern with the vicious lawlessness of the Paris Commune; to the Communard flag's accompanying Yuri Gagarin on the 1961 first human space flight; to the 1968 Prague Spring song " The Paris Commune is in Prague " ; to the international Occupy movement's many Commune references, the insurgency has retained its popular potency for both its champions and its disparagers. The seventy-two day revolutionary civil war continues to draw scholars of philosophy, political theory, comparative literature, art history, and history, offering explanations of its causes, context, meaning, and contemporary uses. Into this mix, John Merriman's Massacre: The Life and Death of the Paris Commune, stakes a distinct position. The evocative narrative begins with the exciting rise, and focuses especially on the brutal fall of the event, addressing both class and gender, and convincingly demonstrating the cold-blooded intentionality of the French state and military in slaughtering over 20,000 Parisians on the city streets. The potent and present nature of the Commune-both the event and its tangled legacy of contested memories-has generated a divided, politicized historiography. At the core rest questions of intention and guilt. Merely describing the Commune's two central elements-what it was and how it ended-reveals an author's position. Presenting the event as an upheaval, an inversion of political, social, religious, and gender hierarchies, asserts a different politics from representing it as a breakdown in social order and an exercise in mob rule. Correspondingly, portraying the Commune's suppression as a murderous bloodbath clearly diverges from describing it as the restoration of order in the city. There is little neutral ground. As in many revolutionary historiographies, the conflicts persist. But the Commune generates particular identifications and passions, in terms of both the event and its rich afterlife. The ideals and idealism of the actors, the unlikeliness of its (even temporary) success, and the ferocity of its subdual, combined with its subsequent associations and uses, attract scholars for myriad reasons. It makes sense that Merriman has contributed to this debate. A highly respected and prolific scholar of urban life and social conflict in nineteenth-century France, Merriman brings extensive knowledge, a profound understanding, and deep passion to this work. The book's title, Massacre, unambiguously locates the text. Meticulously researched and robustly argued, Merriman confronts and dismantles arguments that normalize the suppression of the Commune, that question the Versailles government's lethal intent and complicity in the carnage, and that attempt to sharply minimize the number of dead. Massacre, therefore, refutes British historian Robert Tombs's recent assertions that the repression was not a " wholesale massacre, " that it was not a deliberate effort of state violence, and that only 7,400 Parisians died. The book clarifies and delineates four major points of political contention: the role of class

L’Histoire. Les Collections: La Commune. Le grand rêve de la démocratie directe , 2021

Mediapart (part 4 of a 4-part series, “Le projet colonial en Nouvelle-Calédonie”). Paris, France, August 23 , 2018

I am interviewed by journalist Lucie Delaporte, on the eve of New Caledonia's independence vote, ... more I am interviewed by journalist Lucie Delaporte, on the eve of New Caledonia's independence vote, regarding the 19th-century French anarchist feminist Louise Michel. Examining questions of anti-imperialism and its intersections with feminist and anarchist politics, we discuss Michel's exile to the New Caledonian penal colony in the aftermath of the 1871 Paris Commune, her engagement with indigenous Kanak culture, and her support for the Kanak's 1878 uprising against French imperial rule.

French Historical Studies, Jan 1, 2009

American Historical Review, 2022

Journal of Modern History, 2019

Through the 134 years since its brutal demise, the 1871 Paris Commune has remained steadfast in t... more Through the 134 years since its brutal demise, the 1871 Paris Commune has remained steadfast in the historical imaginary. A shining, hopeful, yet tragic moment for the left, and a triumphantly quashed, nightmarish specter for the right, the Commune stands as a touchstone for movements and ideologies. Ranging from likening American Indians to savage Communards; to Teddy Roosevelt's 1896 campaign threat that if elected, his opponent would govern with the vicious lawlessness of the Paris Commune; to the Communard flag's accompanying Yuri Gagarin on the 1961 first human space flight; to the 1968 Prague Spring song " The Paris Commune is in Prague " ; to the international Occupy movement's many Commune references, the insurgency has retained its popular potency for both its champions and its disparagers. The seventy-two day revolutionary civil war continues to draw scholars of philosophy, political theory, comparative literature, art history, and history, offering explanations of its causes, context, meaning, and contemporary uses. Into this mix, John Merriman's Massacre: The Life and Death of the Paris Commune, stakes a distinct position. The evocative narrative begins with the exciting rise, and focuses especially on the brutal fall of the event, addressing both class and gender, and convincingly demonstrating the cold-blooded intentionality of the French state and military in slaughtering over 20,000 Parisians on the city streets. The potent and present nature of the Commune-both the event and its tangled legacy of contested memories-has generated a divided, politicized historiography. At the core rest questions of intention and guilt. Merely describing the Commune's two central elements-what it was and how it ended-reveals an author's position. Presenting the event as an upheaval, an inversion of political, social, religious, and gender hierarchies, asserts a different politics from representing it as a breakdown in social order and an exercise in mob rule. Correspondingly, portraying the Commune's suppression as a murderous bloodbath clearly diverges from describing it as the restoration of order in the city. There is little neutral ground. As in many revolutionary historiographies, the conflicts persist. But the Commune generates particular identifications and passions, in terms of both the event and its rich afterlife. The ideals and idealism of the actors, the unlikeliness of its (even temporary) success, and the ferocity of its subdual, combined with its subsequent associations and uses, attract scholars for myriad reasons. It makes sense that Merriman has contributed to this debate. A highly respected and prolific scholar of urban life and social conflict in nineteenth-century France, Merriman brings extensive knowledge, a profound understanding, and deep passion to this work. The book's title, Massacre, unambiguously locates the text. Meticulously researched and robustly argued, Merriman confronts and dismantles arguments that normalize the suppression of the Commune, that question the Versailles government's lethal intent and complicity in the carnage, and that attempt to sharply minimize the number of dead. Massacre, therefore, refutes British historian Robert Tombs's recent assertions that the repression was not a " wholesale massacre, " that it was not a deliberate effort of state violence, and that only 7,400 Parisians died. The book clarifies and delineates four major points of political contention: the role of class

European History Quarterly, Jan 1, 2009

The American Historical Review, Jan 1, 2007