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LE PARIS DES ARTISANS BRITANNIQUES (autobiographies, 1815-1850) Au xixe siècle, des milliers de Britanniques émigrent vers le continent. Parmi eux, des artisans viennent travailler quelque temps, forts de savoir-faire acquis outre-Manche,... more
LE PARIS DES ARTISANS BRITANNIQUES (autobiographies, 1815-1850)
Au xixe siècle, des milliers de Britanniques émigrent vers le continent. Parmi eux, des artisans viennent travailler quelque temps, forts de savoir-faire acquis outre-Manche, au coeur de l’industrialisation. Alors que les circulations se multiplient, mécaniciens, ouvrières du lin et du jute, dentelliers, cheminots, terrassiers ou travailleurs du fer utilisent leurs compétences en Europe. Au moins trois d’entre eux, venus à Paris par ces sentiers de l’ouvrier, ont laissé des mémoires : John Colin, apprêteur de cuir écossais et « ivrogne réformé » ; Charles Manby Smith, typographe érudit, qui compose à Paris des livres en anglais et William Duthie, orfèvre itinérant. Ils sont employés dans cette « fabrique collective » parisienne, capitale de l’échoppe et de l’atelier, destination de centaines de milliers de migrants provinciaux et étrangers. Ces trois témoins décrivent leur travail, leur logement et leurs sociabilités. Ils sont parfois les témoins de la grande histoire, à l’instar de Smith, observateur apeuré de la révolution de Juillet 1830.
Ils repartent et finissent par raconter leur vie, selon un usage alors répandu dans les classes populaires britanniques. Leurs témoignages sur le Paris ouvrier sont rassemblés ici, pour la première fois en français.
Presentation of edited volume. Texts by John Colin, Charles Manby Smith and William Duthie. Translated by Sabine Reungoat and edited by Fabrice Bensimon
“Arise Ye Wretched of the Earth” provides a fresh account of the International Working Men’s Association. Founded in London in 1864, the First International gathered trade unions, associations, co-operatives, and individual workers across... more
“Arise Ye Wretched of the Earth” provides a fresh account of the International
Working Men’s Association. Founded in London in 1864, the First
International gathered trade unions, associations, co-operatives, and
individual workers across Europe and the Americas.
The IWMA struggled for the emancipation of labour. It organised solidarity
with strikers. It took sides in major events, such as the 1871 Paris Commune. It
soon appeared as a threat to European powers, which vilified and prosecuted
it. Although it split up in 1872, the IWMA played a ground-breaking part in
the history of working-class internationalism.
In our age of globalised capitalism, large labour migration, and rising
nationalisms, much can be learnt from the history of the first international
labour organisation.
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Chapitre paru dans Marion Fontaine, François Jarrige, Nicolas Patin (dir.), Le travail en Europe occidentale, 1830-1939, Atlande, 2020, pp. 302-325
Présentation de l'ouvrage de Samuel Bamford, La Vie d'un radical anglais au temps de Peterloo, Paris, Editions sociales, 2019
Research Interests:
Preface to the French edition of Jill Liddington and Jill Norris, One hand tied behind us: the Rise of the Women's Suffrage Movement [Rivers Oram, 1978]
« Radicalisme, contestation et mobilisations populaires en Grande-Bretagne, 1810-1820 », in Jean-Claude Caron, Jean-Philippe Luis (dir.), Rien appris, rien oublié ? Les Restaurations dans l’Europe post-napoléonienne (1814-1830), Rennes,... more
« Radicalisme, contestation et mobilisations populaires en Grande-Bretagne, 1810-1820 », in Jean-Claude Caron, Jean-Philippe Luis (dir.), Rien appris, rien oublié ? Les Restaurations dans l’Europe post-napoléonienne (1814-1830), Rennes, Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2015, pp. 65-74.
Research Interests:
Le chartisme (30000 signes). Texte paru dans Michel Pigenet, Danielle Tartakowsky (dir.), _Histoire des mouvements sociaux en France de 1814 à nos jours_, Paris, La Découverte, 2012, pp. 79-89.
“The IWMA and its Precursors in London, c. 1830–1860”, in Fabrice Bensimon, Quentin Deluermoz and Jeanne Moisand (eds.), “Arise Ye Wretched of the Earth”. The First International in a global perspective, Leiden, Brill, 2018, pp. 21-38.
Paru pour la premiere fois en 1987 en Grande-Bretagne et aux Etats-Unis, reedite en 2002, Family Fortunes vient enfin d’etre publie en francais. Les deux auteures, figures reconnues de l’histoire sociale en Grande-Bretagne, ont consacre... more
Paru pour la premiere fois en 1987 en Grande-Bretagne et aux Etats-Unis, reedite en 2002, Family Fortunes vient enfin d’etre publie en francais. Les deux auteures, figures reconnues de l’histoire sociale en Grande-Bretagne, ont consacre de nombreuses annees au travail monumental qui a abouti a Family Fortunes. Figure de la new imperial history, Catherine Hall travaille maintenant principalement sur l’Empire britannique et l’imperialisme domestique, s’interessant a la facon dont l’Empire a mod...
Chaque mouvement se construit en inventant des traditions et en construisant un pantheon de figures heroiques. Le chartisme, ce mouvement democratique massif de la periode 1838-1858, ne fait pas exception. Dans cet ouvrage, l’historien... more
Chaque mouvement se construit en inventant des traditions et en construisant un pantheon de figures heroiques. Le chartisme, ce mouvement democratique massif de la periode 1838-1858, ne fait pas exception. Dans cet ouvrage, l’historien britannique Matthew Roberts etudie les facons dont les chartistes ont commemore le passe, dont ils ont invente des traditions et dont ils ont celebre des heros. Leur pantheon comprenait d’abord des figures tutelaires du radicalisme, comme l’organisateur John Ca...
L’historien britannique Malcolm Chase est decede le 29 fevrier 2020. C’etait un artisan brillant de l’histoire sociale britannique. Il avait etudie aux universites de York et du Sussex, a la fin des annees 1970 et au debut des annees... more
L’historien britannique Malcolm Chase est decede le 29 fevrier 2020. C’etait un artisan brillant de l’histoire sociale britannique. Il avait etudie aux universites de York et du Sussex, a la fin des annees 1970 et au debut des annees 1980. L’universite de Sussex, ou il fit sa these sous la direction de John Fletcher Clews Harrison de 1979 a 1984, etait alors un des foyers de l’histoire sociale anglaise « par en bas » (history from below) dans ce qu’elle avait de meilleur, sous l’influence d’E...
Lundi 16 aout 1819, quelque 60 000 personnes se rassemblent sur St Peter’s Field, a Manchester. Elles reclament des reformes democratiques : le suffrage universel, une representation equitable, le secret du scrutin ou encore l’election... more
Lundi 16 aout 1819, quelque 60 000 personnes se rassemblent sur St Peter’s Field, a Manchester. Elles reclament des reformes democratiques : le suffrage universel, une representation equitable, le secret du scrutin ou encore l’election annuelle du Parlement. Le grand orateur Henry Hunt est venu de Londres, dans le cadre d’une campagne pour la democratie menee depuis la fin des guerres napoleoniennes. A sa demande insistante, les manifestants ne sont pas armes, ne serait-ce que de bâtons pour ...
This chapter studies the interaction between the most significant working-class political movement of the nineteenth century and the British world. Although Chartism has traditionally been studied mostly as insular, its imperial and world... more
This chapter studies the interaction between the most significant working-class political movement of the nineteenth century and the British world. Although Chartism has traditionally been studied mostly as insular, its imperial and world dimensions are now appearing more clearly. One dimension is the way Chartism was influenced by ideas and political events in the overseas Empire, e.g. the rebellion in British North America in 1837-38. A second dimension is the Chartists commenting upon Empire. A third dimension is the overseas emigration of Chartists and their impact on the making of their democratic and land reforms ideals in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Last, this paper asks whether Chartism had an impact on Continental Europe, namely France, Belgium, and Germany.
Between 1815 and 1870, thousands of British artisans emigrated to the continent. Among them, hundreds of lacemakers from the East Midlands went to work in northern France, especially Calais. Thanks to the ‘bobbin-net’ technology, they had... more
Between 1815 and 1870, thousands of British artisans emigrated to the continent. Among them, hundreds of lacemakers from the East Midlands went to work in northern France, especially Calais. Thanks to the ‘bobbin-net’ technology, they had a competitive lead. By emigrating, they could sell in French markets without paying duties or smuggling costs. They maintained close connections with the East Midlands, where they bought machinery and cotton thread, hired their workforce, and obtained first-hand information on patterns and techniques. These migrant artisans played a decisive part in boosting continental industrialisation and in creating a unified zone of production in north-western Europe.
In the period 1815–1870, several thousand British workers and engineers went to the continent for work purposes, playing a decisive part in European industrialisation. Workers emigrated because they could market their skills at good... more
In the period 1815–1870, several thousand British workers and engineers went to the continent for work purposes, playing a decisive part in European industrialisation. Workers emigrated because they could market their skills at good value; or because their British employers sought to make the most of their technical lead by setting businesses up abroad, and by producing on the continent, they could avoid protective tariffs.Which social and cultural factors enabled British capital to flow to continental and indeed global enterprise, British skills to shape labour processes overseas, and British male and female labourers to seek and find overseas employment? This introduction to the Special Issue raises a series of questions on these flows. It asks what numbers went to the continent, in comparison with the large flows to the US and the British World. It addresses the legislative and economic aspects of these labour migrations and tries to relate these to the discussion on the supposed...
After 1815, European manufacturers in several sectors sought to reap the benefits of British technical superiority through the acquisition of British machinery and workers who could operate it. France was one of the beneficiaries of this... more
After 1815, European manufacturers in several sectors sought to reap the benefits of British technical superiority through the acquisition of British machinery and workers who could operate it. France was one of the beneficiaries of this transfer process. Along with iron, engineering, and tulle making, another British industry that established a French presence was linen and jute textile manufacturing. The authors present the results of joint research carried out in Scotland and France, focusing on a spinning mill established by a Dundee-Paris partnership in Ailly-sur-Somme in 1845. Much of the technical, managerial, and worker input came from Dundee, then becoming Britain’s – and for a time, the world’s – leading coarse textile manufacturing centre: ‘Juteopolis’. But the flow of expertise was not always unidirectional and there was cultural interchange too, in a process that by the 1870s had resulted in Ailly becoming one of the most important industrial establishments in France.

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"Genre et travail en Grande-Bretagne et sur le continent (1830-1914).
Article soumis au Cahier d'histoire immédiate, édité par l'université de Pau et des pays de l'Adour, sous la responsabilité de Laurent Dornel
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