Drama societies in the French Revolution: from Jacobin enthusiasts to royalist amateurs

During the French Revolution the network of Jacobin clubs wasto an extent mirrored by the existence of drama societies. Encouragedby the militants who took part in them and by the governmentof the Year II, they knew how to stage patriotic theatre. Theycompeted with the professional companies and reproduced theirregulations concerning morality and charity, the individualsanctions on unmotivated artists and control over repertoryby the municipalities. These formal measures were not necessarilya proof of quality, but members of their audiences were indulgentsince they were used to amateur theatre and because they approvedof the ideas being represented. Nevertheless, drama societieswere the victims of political purges and, in the Year IV, thesetheatres of propaganda were taken over by moderates and royalists,a development which led to their closure by the Directory.     

Geography of contestation: A study on the Yellow Vest movement and the rise of populism in France

The rise of a geography of discontent highlighted in recent studies points to a strong association between voting for populist parties and territories with socioeconomic difficulties. While discontent has primarily been addressed through the analysis of populist votes, we provide additional elements of analysis by comparing these populist votes to the Yellow Vest movement, and we distinguish the populist votes coming from the far-left party from those coming from the far-right party. Our results show that the Yellow Vest movement cannot be confused with French populist supporters and that their sensitivity to territorial dimensions also differs from that of the latter, especially in terms of access to public services. Their behavior highlights that the geography of protest takes multiple shapes and cannot be reduced to a simple opposition between urban and mostly rural or peripheral areas. This raises serious concerns about the dynamics of territories and the deleterious effects of metropolization and the closure of public services in peri-urban and rural territories that are not specific to France.