An intellectual founder of the 3rd Republic: The Neo-Kantian republicanism of Jules Barni

The Neo-Kantian political thought of Jules Barni illustrates the continuing strength of idealist philosophical traditions in France during the second half of the nineteenth-century. Barni's years as an exile in Geneva, when he was an active militant in the cause of international peace, also highlight the importance of exogenous influences on French republicanism in the era of the Second Empire and early Third Republic. Finally, Barni's political writings underline that republican citizenship was not formulated simply by celebrating the national myths of the Jacobin state, but also drew heavily on the republican commitment to local (especially municipal) politics.