 L’inégalité au temps de l’égalité: démocratie, industrialisation et paupérisme chez Alexis de TocquevilleCahiers d’économie politique / Papers in Political Economy, 2010, issue 59, 89-117 Abstract: Tocqueville has been described as nostalgic of former times and aristocracy. According to this view, his criticisms of democracy show his preference for aristocratic societies. Here I try to show that it is not nostalgia, but his acute perception of the advantages and shortcomings of democracy that underlies Tocqueville’s reasoning. His analysis of pauperism illustrates the realism that characterizes his writings and that prevents him not only from being a nostalgic but also from being blinded by the advances of history. This text explores the sources of conflict between the rich and the poor which Tocqueville presents in order to show the risk in the increase in the number of poor workers and the possible emergence of a new aristocracy separated from the political community. Keywords: Tocqueville; pauperism; inequality; industrialisation (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpo:journl:y:2010:i:59:p:89-117 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Cahiers d’économie politique / Papers in Political Economy is currently edited by Claire Pignol More articles in Cahiers d’économie politique / Papers in Political Economy from L'Harmattan |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.