De la république : la méthode, le mot et le concept vus du XXIe siècle

The article discusses the lessons to be learned from Claudia Moatti’s Res publica. Histoire romaine de la chose publique from a political science perspective. The first part focuses on the conceptual method. Against positivist uses of language and perspectives that essentialise concepts, history whi...

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Main Author: Yves Sintomer
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: École Normale Supérieure de Lyon 2023-12-01
Series:Astérion
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/asterion/10378
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author Yves Sintomer
author_facet Yves Sintomer
author_sort Yves Sintomer
collection DOAJ
description The article discusses the lessons to be learned from Claudia Moatti’s Res publica. Histoire romaine de la chose publique from a political science perspective. The first part focuses on the conceptual method. Against positivist uses of language and perspectives that essentialise concepts, history which takes contexts and semantic variations seriously is crucial. This semantic multiplicity must, in turn, be understood as political. Although the oscillations of the expression res publica require analyses focusing on the short term, the long term and the comparative perspectives imply conversely to identify ideal-types. The second part of the article analyses the contemporary interpretations of the republic, and the uses of the word. The different terms inherited from res publica have lost their political centrality, with two important exceptions: on the one hand, political theory and the history of ideas that claim to be republican; on the other hand, the French political-intellectual sphere. In both cases, the “republic” at stake is closer to the second ideal-type identified by Moatti, which emphasises unity and consensus, and considers res publica firstly as a public power. Contemporary supporters of the first ideal-type, which promotes collective action, revolt, active citizenship and the diversity of the commonwealth, tend to abandon the term republic and turn to different ones, especially democracy.
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spelling doaj-art-f4ddaade96f54c1dbd1fa4fd7a2cc80c2025-08-20T03:07:21ZfraÉcole Normale Supérieure de LyonAstérion1762-61102023-12-012910.4000/asterion.10378De la république : la méthode, le mot et le concept vus du XXIe siècleYves SintomerThe article discusses the lessons to be learned from Claudia Moatti’s Res publica. Histoire romaine de la chose publique from a political science perspective. The first part focuses on the conceptual method. Against positivist uses of language and perspectives that essentialise concepts, history which takes contexts and semantic variations seriously is crucial. This semantic multiplicity must, in turn, be understood as political. Although the oscillations of the expression res publica require analyses focusing on the short term, the long term and the comparative perspectives imply conversely to identify ideal-types. The second part of the article analyses the contemporary interpretations of the republic, and the uses of the word. The different terms inherited from res publica have lost their political centrality, with two important exceptions: on the one hand, political theory and the history of ideas that claim to be republican; on the other hand, the French political-intellectual sphere. In both cases, the “republic” at stake is closer to the second ideal-type identified by Moatti, which emphasises unity and consensus, and considers res publica firstly as a public power. Contemporary supporters of the first ideal-type, which promotes collective action, revolt, active citizenship and the diversity of the commonwealth, tend to abandon the term republic and turn to different ones, especially democracy.https://journals.openedition.org/asterion/10378democracyconceptual historyRepublichistory of political ideashistorical sociologyMoatti (Claudia)
spellingShingle Yves Sintomer
De la république : la méthode, le mot et le concept vus du XXIe siècle
Astérion
democracy
conceptual history
Republic
history of political ideas
historical sociology
Moatti (Claudia)
title De la république : la méthode, le mot et le concept vus du XXIe siècle
title_full De la république : la méthode, le mot et le concept vus du XXIe siècle
title_fullStr De la république : la méthode, le mot et le concept vus du XXIe siècle
title_full_unstemmed De la république : la méthode, le mot et le concept vus du XXIe siècle
title_short De la république : la méthode, le mot et le concept vus du XXIe siècle
title_sort de la republique la methode le mot et le concept vus du xxie siecle
topic democracy
conceptual history
Republic
history of political ideas
historical sociology
Moatti (Claudia)
url https://journals.openedition.org/asterion/10378
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