Imagining the Middle Class: The Political Representation of Class in Britain, c.1780–1840

Dror Wahrman

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511622175

Why and how did the British people come to see themselves as living in a society centred around a middle class? The answer provided by Professor Wahrman challenges most prevalent historical narratives: the key to understanding changes in conceptualisations of society, the author argues, lies not in underlying transformations of social structure - in this case industrialisation, which supposedly created and empowered the middle class - but rather in changing political configurations. Firmly grounded in a close reading of an extensive array of sources, and supported by comparative perspectives on France and America, the book offers a nuanced model for the interplay between social reality, politics, and the languages of class.

‘For all those interested in the question whether class is best seen as a category of social and economic history or as an artefact of political discourse, Imagining the Middle Class is essential - and fascinating - reading.’

Gareth Stedman Jones - King's College, Cambridge

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-viii
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Contents
pp ix-x
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List of figures
pp xi-xii
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Acknowledgments
pp xiii-xiv
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1 - Imagining the ‘middle class’: an introduction
pp 1-18
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PART I - AGAINST THE TIDE
pp 19-20
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Prelude to the 1790s: was the French Revolution a ‘bourgeois revolution’?
pp 21-30
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2 - The uses of ‘middle-class’ language in the 1790s
pp 31-73
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3 - Friends and foes of the ‘middle class’: the dialogic imagination
pp 74-107
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4 - The political differentiation of social language: the debate on the triple assessment, 1797–1798
pp 108-144
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Postlude to the 1790s: the uses of ‘bourgeois revolution’
pp 145-154
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PART II - THE TUG OF WAR
pp 155-156
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5 - Taming the ‘middle class’
pp 157-183
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6 - The tug of war and its resolution
pp 184-220
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PART III - WITH THE TIDE
pp 221-222
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7 - The social construction of the ‘middle class’
pp 223-272
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8 - The parallels across the Channel: a French aside
pp 273-297
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9 - The debates on the Reform Bill: bowing to a new representation of the ‘middle class’
pp 298-327
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10 - Inventing the ever-rising ‘middle class’: the aftermath of 1832
pp 328-376
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11 - 1832 and the ‘middle-class’ conquest of the ‘private sphere’
pp 377-408
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Epilogue
pp 409-420
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Index
pp 421-428
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Imagining the Middle Class

The Political Representation of Class in Britain, c.1780–1840

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-viii

Contents
pp ix-x

List of figures
pp xi-xii

Acknowledgments
pp xiii-xiv

1 - Imagining the ‘middle class’: an introduction
pp 1-18

PART I - AGAINST THE TIDE
pp 19-20

Prelude to the 1790s: was the French Revolution a ‘bourgeois revolution’?
pp 21-30

2 - The uses of ‘middle-class’ language in the 1790s
pp 31-73

3 - Friends and foes of the ‘middle class’: the dialogic imagination
pp 74-107

4 - The political differentiation of social language: the debate on the triple assessment, 1797–1798
pp 108-144

Postlude to the 1790s: the uses of ‘bourgeois revolution’
pp 145-154

PART II - THE TUG OF WAR
pp 155-156

5 - Taming the ‘middle class’
pp 157-183

6 - The tug of war and its resolution
pp 184-220

PART III - WITH THE TIDE
pp 221-222

7 - The social construction of the ‘middle class’
pp 223-272

8 - The parallels across the Channel: a French aside
pp 273-297

9 - The debates on the Reform Bill: bowing to a new representation of the ‘middle class’
pp 298-327

10 - Inventing the ever-rising ‘middle class’: the aftermath of 1832
pp 328-376

11 - 1832 and the ‘middle-class’ conquest of the ‘private sphere’
pp 377-408

Epilogue
pp 409-420

Index
pp 421-428

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Imagining the Middle Class

The Political Representation of Class in Britain, c.1780–1840

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