Republicanism and Liberalism in the Revolutionary moment

This article stems from a critical reading of two recent works published in the United States, both inspired by the history of ideas concerring the question of the relationship between republican language and liberal language. Their shared conclusion is that the attempt at an analytical updating of the political language of republicanism was a failure chiefly because this political language faded at the end of the eighteenth century giving way to a liberal language clearly distinct from republicanism that insisted on the protection of private activities, on the subordinate character of civic activities and on an essentially negative idea of liberty. By contrast, the present article is a plea for the notion that republican language remains an intellectual ressource still useful today, and insists that its originality is rooted in the implication of the concept of equality - equality of the means of independence and of the ressources of development - and in the concept of liberty.