Giraudeau, Martin (2010) Performing physiocracy: Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours and the limits of political engineering. Journal of cultural economy, 3 (2). pp. 225-242. ISSN 1753-0350
Abstract
The story of Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours has often been described as one of success. The man was a well-known statesman, economist and entrepreneur in late eighteenth-century France and his main legacy, the famous and still thriving Du Pont company, suggests a brilliant trajectory. The aim of this paper, however, is to analyze Du Pont's failure in performing the political and economic doctrine of which he was an active promoter all through his life: physiocracy. In all of his very diverse activities, be they scientific, political, or entrepreneurial, Du Pont indeed deliberately attempted to enact this original liberal doctrine. He tried, along with fellow physiocrats, to introduce freedom of trade and enterprise in Old Regime French minds and economic practices. Later, when emigrating to the United States, he devised a plan for a physiocratic colony. But none of these ventures was actually a success during Du Pont's lifetime: the performation of some of physiocracy's main propositions only came later, in a diffuse and partial way. We contend that this relative failure of performativity can be explained by Du Pont's specific type of agency: one relying mainly on political engineering, based on personal ties and reputations, as well as on a strict distinction between ends and means.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2010.494125 |
| Additional Information: | © 2010 Taylor & Francis |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ISI, performativity, political economy, enlightenment, physiocracy |
| Library of Congress subject classification: | H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory J Political Science > JC Political theory |
| Journal of Economic Literature Classification System: | B - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology > B3 - History of Thought: Individuals |
| Sets: | Departments > Accounting Collections > Economists Online |
| Rights: | http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/rights/LSERO.htm |
| URL: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/36819/ |
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