Author : Christopher H. Johnson
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195045084
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (95 download)
Book Synopsis The Life and Death of Industrial Languedoc, 1700-1920 by : Christopher H. Johnson
Download or read book The Life and Death of Industrial Languedoc, 1700-1920 written by Christopher H. Johnson and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1995 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In contrast to the explanations of both economic "realists," who attribute deindustrialization to market forces and economic geography, and regional nationalists, who see a betrayal of Lower Languedoc by its bourgeoisie whose investments took the easy path to the vine rather than staying the course with industry, Johnson shows that woolens production remained vital through mid-century. The dimension that must be added, he argues, is the political. Workers in Languedoc developed a powerful labor and democratic socialist movement against an intransigent class of employers. That movement rocked the region, as well as the nation, from 1848-1851. Dramatic as it may have been, this upheaval also proved to be the catalyst stimulating the disfavor of the French state and the consumer alike, and the ineluctable process of decline set in.