Nature, science and the environment in nineteenth-century French political economy: The case of Michel Chevalier (1805-1879)
This article explores the significant yet neglected aspect of environmental awareness in nineteenth-century French political economy, and the French school of “industrialism”, in particular. It focuses on the work of the one-time Saint-Simonian and political economist Michel Chevalier (1806-1879) as...
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Cambridge University Press
2017
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| _version_ | 1797095204936744960 |
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| author | Drolet, M |
| author_facet | Drolet, M |
| author_sort | Drolet, M |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This article explores the significant yet neglected aspect of environmental awareness in nineteenth-century French political economy, and the French school of “industrialism”, in particular. It focuses on the work of the one-time Saint-Simonian and political economist Michel Chevalier (1806-1879) as an interesting example of an environmentally sensitive political economy of “industrialism”. The article reveals how Chevalier’s political economy was informed by a sophisticated and environmentally conscious understanding of nature that came to mark scientific and engineering thinking in early nineteenth-century French academic circles. It shows how this understanding of nature was transmitted through publications and lectures of scientists and engineers within leading French academic institutions such as the École polytechnique and the École des mines. The article shows that Chevalier’s scientific and engineering education at these institutions shaped his understanding of nature and society as intimately interconnected and mutually impacting. The article then shows how his view of nature and society developed in a more decidedly romantic direction during his time as a Saint-Simonian. The romantic sensibility of this time was short-lived, but a keen environmental awareness dating back to Chevalier’s student days remained a significant feature of his later reflections in political economy. It was this particular quality of Chevalier’s political economy that set it apart both from the French liberal school of political economy with its very low environmental awareness and the more fully ecological political economy of the kind advanced by his fellow Saint-Simonians, Pierre Leroux and Jean Reynaud. Finally, the article shows what has not been widely appreciated: that an environmentally sensitive political economy, of which Chevalier’s was a good example, was endorsed by a large body of nineteenth-century French scientific and administrative opinion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T04:24:30Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:cc298a5d-d2b5-49e6-ae20-a02f343fe9bd |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T04:24:30Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:cc298a5d-d2b5-49e6-ae20-a02f343fe9bd2022-03-27T07:19:51ZNature, science and the environment in nineteenth-century French political economy: The case of Michel Chevalier (1805-1879)Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:cc298a5d-d2b5-49e6-ae20-a02f343fe9bdSymplectic Elements at OxfordCambridge University Press2017Drolet, MThis article explores the significant yet neglected aspect of environmental awareness in nineteenth-century French political economy, and the French school of “industrialism”, in particular. It focuses on the work of the one-time Saint-Simonian and political economist Michel Chevalier (1806-1879) as an interesting example of an environmentally sensitive political economy of “industrialism”. The article reveals how Chevalier’s political economy was informed by a sophisticated and environmentally conscious understanding of nature that came to mark scientific and engineering thinking in early nineteenth-century French academic circles. It shows how this understanding of nature was transmitted through publications and lectures of scientists and engineers within leading French academic institutions such as the École polytechnique and the École des mines. The article shows that Chevalier’s scientific and engineering education at these institutions shaped his understanding of nature and society as intimately interconnected and mutually impacting. The article then shows how his view of nature and society developed in a more decidedly romantic direction during his time as a Saint-Simonian. The romantic sensibility of this time was short-lived, but a keen environmental awareness dating back to Chevalier’s student days remained a significant feature of his later reflections in political economy. It was this particular quality of Chevalier’s political economy that set it apart both from the French liberal school of political economy with its very low environmental awareness and the more fully ecological political economy of the kind advanced by his fellow Saint-Simonians, Pierre Leroux and Jean Reynaud. Finally, the article shows what has not been widely appreciated: that an environmentally sensitive political economy, of which Chevalier’s was a good example, was endorsed by a large body of nineteenth-century French scientific and administrative opinion. |
| spellingShingle | Drolet, M Nature, science and the environment in nineteenth-century French political economy: The case of Michel Chevalier (1805-1879) |
| title | Nature, science and the environment in nineteenth-century French political economy: The case of Michel Chevalier (1805-1879) |
| title_full | Nature, science and the environment in nineteenth-century French political economy: The case of Michel Chevalier (1805-1879) |
| title_fullStr | Nature, science and the environment in nineteenth-century French political economy: The case of Michel Chevalier (1805-1879) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nature, science and the environment in nineteenth-century French political economy: The case of Michel Chevalier (1805-1879) |
| title_short | Nature, science and the environment in nineteenth-century French political economy: The case of Michel Chevalier (1805-1879) |
| title_sort | nature science and the environment in nineteenth century french political economy the case of michel chevalier 1805 1879 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT droletm naturescienceandtheenvironmentinnineteenthcenturyfrenchpoliticaleconomythecaseofmichelchevalier18051879 |