In these posts we attempt to develop a historically sensitive form of enquiry into what it meant for a set of individuals to be democrats in central and northern Europe (roughly, Germany and lands adjacent) between 1780 and 1870. The series complements previous work that we – Joanna Innes and Mark Philp – have undertaken with others on discourses of democracy in the age of revolutions, work that has been published in the three books of our Re-imagining Democracy series (OUP, 2013, 2018, 2023). The region and time span defines the scope of our fourth (and final) book.
The posts explore what made it possible for people to be democrats in three ways: by looking at how talk about democracy figured in their environment; at the support networks, virtual or real, which formed and sustained political identities; and at the subjective and experiential life-paths that brought them into contact with those languages and networks and shaped both their opportunities and commitments. The contributions will also inform a chapter of the book in which we address the topic of democratic identity.
If you’re interested in our project, you can follow its past activities on our website, or get in touch with us to express and explain your interest. Mark Philp (mark.philp@warwick.ac.uk) is coordinating this series.
