Memorably born during debates about what to do with the King, the left/right divide was not the only opposition, nor indeed the most dominant, available at the time. The Terror, for instance, opposed the Mountain to the Plane or the Marais: the Mountain was composed of radical Jacobin deputies who dominated the Committee of Public Safety – most famously Robespierre – who sat across the highest benches of the Assembly, whereas the Plain or the Marsh sat on the lower benches, closer to the tribune. What consequences for our understanding of history and contemporary politics of seeing political dynamics not through a left/right divide but a centre/extremes one?

Speaker
Hugo Drochon, University of Nottingham

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This event is hosted by the Institute for European Studies. It is co-sponsored by French Studies, History, and Government.