Freedom as a political force is bound to towns, wealth, and communal solidarity
Evidence
Freedom is therefore a phenomenon that is compatible with Roman absolutism (and this is, I think, the first time this argument appears in these historical analyses); it is a Gaulish phenomenon, but it is above all an urban phenomenon. Freedom belongs to the towns. And it is to the precise extent that it belongs to the towns that freedom can struggle and become a political force. — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 220
Categorization
- XREF: The claim that freedom becomes a force only where wealth and community converge is the template for the Third Estate’s self-construction — carries forward to how class/nation identity is fabricated in later readings. — connects to: Larger social circles encourage individual freedom; smaller ones restrict it — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 642; Feudalism’s narrow circles suppressed both collective spirit and individual freedom — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 647; Political freedom at the state level coexisted with extreme individual restriction in communal Russia — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 619 (+1 more)
- DEFINE: Defines freedom here not as an abstract right but as a material, urban, communal capacity to struggle.
Related
- In this historical discourse, freedom is an urban, not imperial, phenomenon (similarity 0.85)
- Political freedom at the state level coexisted with extreme individual restriction in communal Russia (similarity 0.80)
- The Bréquigny-Chapsal thesis made urban communities the historical engine of freedom (similarity 0.79)
- Feudalism’s narrow circles suppressed both collective spirit and individual freedom (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Larger social circles encourage individual freedom; smaller ones restrict it
#expands(0.85) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 642 - Feudalism’s narrow circles suppressed both collective spirit and individual freedom
#corroborates(0.82) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 647 - Political freedom at the state level coexisted with extreme individual restriction in communal Russia
#contradicts(0.78) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 619