The French Revolution was in origin an uprising of the commoners against the nobility and the clergy (Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix)

The terms common people, the masses, or commoners denote a broad social division referring to regular people who are members of neither the nobility or the priesthood. Following the rise of the middle class in the 19th century, this division is now of mainly historical interest. Since the 20th century the term "common people" has been used in a more general sense to refer to typical members of society in contrast to highly privileged (in either wealth or influence).

European history[link]

In Europe, a distinct concept analogous to common people arose in the Classical civilization of ancient Rome around the sixth century BC, with the social division into patricians (nobles) and plebians (commoners). The division may have been instituted by Servius Tullius, as an alternative to the previous clan based divisions that had been responsible for internecine conflict.^[1] The ancient Greeks generally had no concept of class and their leading social divisions were simply non-Greeks, free-Greeks and slaves.^[2] The early organisation of Ancient Athens was something of an exception with certain official roles like Archons , magistrates and treasurers being reserved for only the wealthiest citizens - these class like divisions were weakened by the democratic reforms of Cleisthenes who created new vertical social divisions in contrasting fashion to the horizontal ones thought to have been created by Tullius. ^[3]

With the growth of Christianity in the fourth century AD, a new world view arose that would underpin European thinking on social division until at least early modern times.^[1] Saint Augustine postulated that social division was a result of the Fall of Man.^[1] The three leading divisions were considered to be the nobility, the priesthood and the common people. Sometimes this would be expressed as "those who fought", "those who prayed", and "those who worked". This threefold division was formalised in the estate system of social stratification, where again commoners were the bulk of the population who are neither members of the nobility nor of the clergy.^[4] They were the third of the Three Estates of the Realm in medieval Europe, consisting of peasants and artisans.

Up until the late 15th century european social order was relatively stable. There were periods where the common people felt oppressed in certain regions, but often they were content with their lot. In 12th century England for example, while the common people would sometimes complain about the "Norman yoke" ^[5] there was almost no unemployment and the average commoner only had to work only about 20 hours per week.^[6] Though incidents of savage brutality still occurred in Europe, especially when one set of nobles displaced another, in general nobles were seen as just protectors of the common people, as was encouraged by Christian teaching.^[7] With early medieval times being a period of close to absolute faith, the clergy were also highly valued by the common people, bringing much happiness as at the time there was close to universal belief that through sacraments such as confession , the priest had the ability to ensure salvation.^[8]

The social and political order of medieval Europe was shaken by the development of the mobile cannon in the 15th century. Up until that time a noble with a small force could hold their castle or walled town for years even against large armies - and so they were rarely disposed.^[9] Once effective cannons were available, walls were of far less defensive value and rulers needed expensive field armies to keep control of a territory. This encouraged the formation of princely and kingly states, which needed to tax the common people much more heavily to pay for the expensive weapons and armies required to provide security in the new age. Up until the late 15th century, surviving medieval treaties on government were concerned with advising rulers on how to serve the common good: Assize of Bread is an example of medieval law specifically drawn up in the interests of the common people.^[9] But then works by Commynes , Machiavelli and later Cardinal Richelieu began advising rulers to consider their own interests and that of the state ahead of what was "good", with Richelieu explicitly saying the state is above morality in doctrines such as Raison dEtat.^[9] This change of orientation among the nobles left the common people less content with their place in society. A similar trend occurred regarding the clergy, where many priests began to abuse the great power they had due to the sacrament of contrition. The Reformation was a movement that aimed to correct this, but even afterward the common people's trust in the clergy would continue to decline – priests were often seen as greedy and lacking in true faith. An early major social upheaval driven in part by the common peoples mistrust of both the nobility and clergy occurred in Great Britain with the English Revolution of 1642. After the forces of Oliver Cromwell triumphed, movements like the Levellers rose to prominence demanding equality for all. When the general council of Cromwell's army met to decide on a new order at the Putney Debates of 1647, one of the commanders, Colonel Rainsborough, requested that political power be given to the common people. According to historian Roger Osbourne, the Colonel's speech was the first time a prominent person spoke in favour of universal male suffrage, but it was not to be granted until 1918. After much debate it was decided that only those with considerable property would be allowed to vote, and so after the revolution political power in England remained largely controlled by the nobles, with at first only a few of the most wealthy or well-connected common people sitting in Parliament.^[3]

The rise of the bourgeoisie during the Late Middle Ages, had seen an intermediate class of wealthy commoners develop, which ultimately gave rise to the modern middle classes. Middle class people could still be called commoners however, for example in England Pitt the elder was often called The Great Commoner, and this appellation was later used for the 20th century American anti-elitist campaigner William Bryan. The interests of the middle class were not always aligned with their fellow commoners of the working class.

Social historian Karl Polanyi wrote that in 19th century Britain, the new middle class turned against their fellow commoners when they seized political power from the upper classes in 1832. Early industrialisation had been causing economic distress to large numbers of working class commoners, leaving them unable to earn a living. The upper classes had provided protection such as workhouses where inmates could happily "doss" about and also a system of "outdoor" ^[10] relief both for the unemployed and those on low income. Though early middle class opposition to the Poor Law reform of Lord Pitt ^[11] had prevented the emergence of a coherent and generous nationwide provision, the resulting Speenhamland system did generally save working class commoners from starvation. In 1834 outdoor relief was abolished,^[12] and workhouses were deliberately made into places so dehumanising that folk would often prefer to starve rather than enter them. For Polanyi this related to the economic doctrine prevalent at the time which held that only the spur of hunger could make workers flexible enough for the proper functioning of the free market. Later the same Laissez-faire free market doctrine led to British officials turning a blind eye to the suffering in the Irish potato famine and various Indian famines and acts of exploitation in colonial adventures. By the late 19th century, at least in mainland Britain, economic progress has been sufficient that even the working class were generally able to earn a good living, so working and middle class interests began to converge, lessening the division within the ranks of common people. Polanyi writes that on continental Europe middle and working class interests did not diverge anywhere near as markedly as they had in Britain.^[13]

Break down of the trifold division[link]

US Vice President Henry A. Wallace proclaimed the "arrival of the century of the common man" in a 1942 speech broadcast nationwide in the United States.

After the French Revolution, the Napoleonic wars and with industrialization, the division in three estates - nobility, clergy and commoners - had become somewhat outdated. The term "common people" continued to be used, but now in a more general sense to refer to regular people as opposed to the privileged elite. Communist theory divided society into capitalists on one hand, and the proletariat or the masses on the other. In Marxism, the people are considered to be the creator of history. By using the word "people", Marx did not gloss over the class differences, but united certain elements, capable of completing the revolution. The Intelligentsia's sympathy for the common people gained strength in 19th century in many countries. For example, in Imperial Russia a big part of the intelligentsia was striving for its emancipation. Several great writers (Nekrasov, Herzen, Tolstoy etc.) wrote about sufferings of the common people. Organizations, parties and movements arose, proclaiming the liberation of the people. These included among others: "People's Reprisal", "People’s Will", "Party of Popular Freedom" and the "People's Socialist Party". In America, a famous 1942 speech by vice president Henry A. Wallace proclaimned the arrival of the "century of the common man" saying that all over the world the "common people" were on the march, specifically referring to Chinese, Indians and Russians as well as Americans.^[14] Wallace's speech would later inspire the widely reproduced popular work Fanfare for the common man by Aaron Copeland.^[15]

Social divisions in non-Western civilisations[link]

Comparative historian Oswald Spengler found the social separation into nobility, priests and commoners to occur again and again in the various civilisations that he surveyed, but the division may not exist for pre-civilised society.^[8] As an example, in the Babylonian civilisation, The Code of Hammurabi made provision for punishments to be harsher for harming a noble than a commoner.^[16]

See also[link]

• Commoners in the United Kingdom
• British subject
• Bourgeoisie
• Hoi polloi
• Republicanism
• Deme
• Folk
• Ochlocracy
• Demagoguery
• Populism
• Tyranny of the majority

Notes and references[link]

Further reading[link]

• The common people: a history from the Norman Conquest to the present J. F. C. Harrison Fontana Press (1989)
• The concept of class: a historical introduction Peter Calvert Palgrave Macmillan (1985)

Barry Commoner (born May 28, 1917) is an American biologist, college professor, and politician. He ran for president of the United States in the 1980 US presidential election on the Citizens Party ticket. He was also editor of Science Illustrated magazine.

Biography[link]

Commoner was born in Brooklyn. He received his bachelor's degree in zoology from Columbia University (1937) and his master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University (1938, 1941)."^[1] After serving as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during World War II, he moved to St. Louis where became a professor of plant physiology at Washington University. He taught there for 34 years and during this period, in 1966, he founded the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems to study "the science of the total environment".^{[citation needed]}

In the late 1950s, Commoner became well known for his opposition to nuclear testing. He went on to write several books about the negative ecological effects of above-ground nuclear testing. In 1970 he received the International Humanist Award from the International Humanist and Ethical Union.

In his 1971 book The Closing Circle, a bestseller, Commoner suggested that the American economy should be restructured to conform to the unbending laws of ecology.^[2] For example, he argued that polluting products (like detergents or synthetic textiles) should be replaced with natural products (like soap or cotton and wool).^[2] This book was one of the first to bring the idea of sustainability to a mass audience.^[2] Commoner suggested a left-wing, eco-socialist response to the limits to growth thesis, postulating that capitalist technologies were chiefly responsible for environmental degradation, as opposed to population pressures. He had a long running debate with Paul R. Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb and his followers, arguing that they were too focused on overpopulation as the source of environmental problems, and that their proposed solutions were politically unacceptable because of the coercion that they implied, and because the cost would fall disproportionately on the poor. He believed that technological, and above all social development would lead to a natural decrease in both population growth and environmental damage.^[3]

Commoner published another bestseller in 1976, The Poverty of Power.^[2] In that book, he addressed the "Three Es" that were plaguing the United States in the 1970s: "First there was the threat to environmental survival; then there was the apparent shortage of energy; and now there is the unexpected decline of the economy."^[4] He argued that the three issues were interconnected: the industries that used the most energy had the highest negative impact on the environment; the focus on non-renewable resources as sources of energy meant that those resources were growing scarce, thus pushing up the price of energy and hurting the economy.^[2] Towards the book's end, Commoner suggests that the problem of the Three Es is caused by the capitalistic system and can only be solved by replacing it with some sort of socialism.^[2]

In 1980, he founded the Citizens Party to serve as a vehicle for his ecological message, and he ran for President of the United States in the 1980 US Election. His official running mate was La Donna Harris, Native-American wife of Fred Harris, the former Democratic Senator from Oklahoma, although she was replaced on the ballot in Ohio by Wretha Hanson.^[5][6] His candidacy for President on the Citizens Party ticket won 233,052 votes (0.27% of the total).^[7] After his unsuccessful bid, Commoner returned to New York City, and moved the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems to Queens College. He stepped down from that post in 2000, and is now a senior scientist at Queens. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Four Laws of Ecology[link]

One of Commoner's lasting legacies is his four laws of ecology, as written in The Closing Circle in 1971. The four laws are:

1. Everything is Connected to Everything Else. There is one ecosphere for all living organisms and what affects one, affects all.

2. Everything Must Go Somewhere. There is no "waste" in nature and there is no “away” to which things can be thrown.

3. Nature Knows Best. Humankind has fashioned technology to improve upon nature, but such change in a natural system is, says Commoner, “likely to be detrimental to that system.”

4. There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch. Exploitation of nature will inevitably involve the conversion of resources from useful to useless forms.

Writings[link]

• Science and Survival. New York : Viking, 1966.
• The Closing Circle: Nature, Man, and Technology. New York : Knopf, 1971.
• The Poverty of Power: Energy and the Economic Crisis. New York : Random House, 1976.
• The Politics of Energy. New York : Knopf, 1979.
• Making Peace With the Planet. New York : Pantheon, 1990.

See also[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Barry Commoner

	Biography portal
	United States Navy portal

References[link]

• Contemporary Authors. Detroit : Gale, 2000.
• Who's Who in America. Chicago : Marquis, 2004.

Further reading[link]

Michael Egan: Barry Commoner and the science of survival. The remaking of American Environmentalism, Cambridge, Mass. and London: MIT Press, 2007

External links[link]

• Interview with Richard Yeh of City University of New York (CUNY) Radio^{[dead link]}
• Key Participants: Barry Commoner - Linus Pauling and the International Peace Movement: A Documentary History

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Shannon Wright is an American singer-songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia.

History[link]

Wright moved from New York City to Chapel Hill, NC after her first band Crowsdell called it quits. While in Chapel Hill, Wright started experimenting and writing solo songs with a borrowed four-track recorder. Wright, known for her "do-it-yourself punk aesthetic", received much encouragement from friends to continue making records, even though she had considered quitting. So, when a friend gave one of her four-track recordings to someone at Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records, and they offered to release her first solo record, she decided to continue her musical career on her own. After, the release of the 7" A tin crown for the social bash on Overcoat Records, Wright signed with Touch and Go/Quarterstick, to which she remains signed today.

Recordings[link]

After moving from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to Atlanta, Georgia, Wright began working on her first release on Touch and Go called FlightSafety. This album received critic acclaim for Wright's intriguing lyrics and songwriting abilities. FlightSafety consists of simple guitar and piano chord progressions with striking vocal melodies. Wright plays almost all the instruments on this release and all other releases following FlightSafety.

In 2000, Wright recorded Maps of Tacit. This album is one of Wright's most laborious recordings to date. Although critics claimed this album to be too dark and depressing after FlightSafety, it has gone on to be one of her most enduring, intimate and creative. The impassioned songs such as "Dirty Facade" and "Heavy Crown" show an insular world of uncompromising emotions and captivating vocals. On Maps of Tacit Wright's piano playing swirls in carnival like melodies, while her guitar playing on "Within the quilt of demand" dismisses its simple-hearted past and embraces a new unique complexity all its own. Wright's recordings grew more and more "professional" sounding with more instruments and higher sound quality. 2001, brought two recordings. The Perishable Goods E.P. a limited release with handspun artwork and the full-length Dyed in the Wool. Perishable Goods is compiled of older unreleased songs with appearances by: Alan Sparhawk of Low, Crooked Fingers, and Rachel Grimes and Christian Fredrickson from Rachel's.

Dyed in the Wool is known as one of Wright's more accessible albums. Songs like "Less than a moment" and "Hinterland", Wright still features her emotive and intimate lyrics while now taking on new found confidence. Appearances on Dyed in the Wool are label mates Shipping News, Chris Lopez from Rockateens, Rachel's and Heather Macintosh from Japancakes.

In 2004, Wright recorded Over the Sun with renowned recording engineer Steve Albini and band member of Shellac. Although, Wright had recorded with Albini before on several different occasions (Maps of Tacit & Dyed in the Wool), this was the first time Wright and Albini completed a full-length record together. Albini's distinctive "live" recording signature, allows Wright to showcase her fervent, powerful and unique guitar playing. This album comes closest to capturing her intense, unbridled and extremely raw live-performances.

Wright traveled to Paris, France to collaborate and record a full-length record with Yann Tiersen (music composer for the 2001 French film Amélie) in the Spring of 2005. This is Wright's only known collaboration with another songwriter. Tiersen's classical background, brightened Wright's classical tendencies, and in turn, Wright brightened Tiersen's experimental and punk tendencies. This collaboration brought eversion for both artists, delivering both delicate and furious songs, much like Wright and Tiersen themselves.

2007, brought Let in the Light where Wright moves back to her slightly simpler instrumentation and recording styles. Wright seems more at ease on the piano, exploring experimental and unorthodox piano melodies with a bit of classical influence. The vocals on songs "In the Morning" or "You Baffle Me" reveal Wright's tranquil side, while "Everybody's got their own part to play" reveal a Beatles-esque pop-sensibility never seen previously.

In 2009, with Honeybee Girls, Wright faces up to her taboos: acoustics and electronics. Piano, organ, guitars, violin, cello with indistinct tones allow to feel freedom and freshness.

Nearly, on year later, Wright wrote and recorded Secret Blood in 2010. “Fractured” bellow her coarse and distinctive guitar playing, so perfectly exact. As does the beautifully hypnotic “Violent Colors”. Secret Blood compiles the major impulses—eerie tension, aggressive thrashing, and muted calm–of Shannon Wright’s career. Her albums typically focus on two of those three motifs, but here the jagged, rocking “Commoner’s Saint,” the tensely dramatic “Dim Reader,” and the stately “Satellites” fit together seamlessly.

Collaborations[link]

• Shannon Wright provided vocals for "Last Things Last" on Systems/Layers for the band Rachel's.

• Shannon Wright covered the Bee Gees song "I Started a Joke" on Perishable Goods E.P.

• Shannon Wright covered The Smiths song "Asleep" on A Junior Hymn

• Wright has played, All Tomorrow’s Parties in the UK once curated by Shellac, and for a second time in the UK curated by Dirty Three. In 2007, she played at the Primavera Festival in Barcelona with members of Shipping News.

• "Hinterland" from Wright's Dyed in the Wool used in the french artist and filmmaker Julien Levy's movie "The Shape of Art to Come" 2011.

Discography[link]

• A Tin Crown For the Social Bash b/w You're the Cup (1999)
• Flightsafety (1999)
• "Wish You Well" b/w "Captain of Quarantine" (1999) Put it on a Cracker Records
• Maps of Tacit (2000)
• Perishable Goods (2001)
• Dyed in the Wool (2001)
• A Junior Hymn b/w Asleep (2001)
• Over the Sun (2004)
• Yann Tiersen and Shannon Wright (2004)
• Let in the Light (2007)
• Honeybee Girls (2009)
• Secret Blood (2010)

References[link]

• Shannon Wright. Splendid.
• Dusted Reviews: Shannon Wright - Let in the Light
• [1]^{[dead link]}
• Scaruffi , Piero. Shannon Wright. Piero Scaruffi
• Asher, Tizzy (7 November 2001). Shared sorrow: Shannon Wright gives you something to cry about. Seattle Weekly.
• Nishimoto, Dan (28 March 2005). Yann Tiersen and Shannon Wright: self-titled. PopMatter.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shannon Wright

• Shannon Wright Official Facebook Page
• Shannon Wright's USA Record Label
• Shannon Wright's French Record Label
• Shannon Wright Official MySpace Site

The Camerawalls is an indie pop band based in Manila, Philippines formed in 2007 by singer and guitarist Clementine, the main songwriter of the band and formerly of Orange and Lemons.

History[link]

With a cult following back in 2003 to mainstream success in 2005 via a series of hit singles through a major label, it was with the band Orange and Lemons that the breakup in 2007 resulted in the premature exit of Clementine from the music scene.^[1]

This was to prove as only temporary, as Clementine immediately formed a new band in September 2007 under the name The Camerawalls. It showcased his songwriting prowess that manifested in his earlier works collaborating with old friends Law Santiago and Ian Sarabia.

To support The Camerawalls' releases and go as far as establishing full creative control and marketing his own music, Clementine also founded Lilystars Records, an independent record label determined to house the sensibility and aesthetics of indie pop music in the Philippines.^[2]

On March 2008, The Camerawalls released a sample of their music with an unofficial single "Markers Of Beautiful Memories" over the internet, which slowly gained attention and a following and then eventually picked up by radio. With the release of the debut album Pocket Guide to the Otherworld on July 3, 2008 and the success of the single "Clinically Dead For 16 Hours", The Camerawalls became an example of a remarkable music production in true indie spirit.

Pocket Guide to the Otherworld has become a landmark release that showed people what happens when contemporary indie pop meets good old Filipino sensibilities.^[3]

New Single and line-up changes[link]

The Camerawalls acquired Paolo Peralta as their session guitarist in November 2009 and later as an official member as they continue to tour.

On February 22, 2010, The Camerawalls released a digital single called "The Sight of Love". The new single marks an official return to the recording studios. "The Sight of Love" also features another artist from the Lilystars stable – vocalist Sarah Gaugler of electro-pop band Turbo Goth.^[4]

Two months after its release, Paolo Peralta and Ian Sarabia resigned from the band. Currently, Clementine and Law Santiago are working on The Camerawall's upcoming new album.

Musical styles[link]

The Camerawalls is renowned for incorporating native rondalla (traditional Philippine folk music) instrumentations in their recordings attributed to Clementine's exposure to his father's work as a Rondalla instructor. Prominent sections of banduria and octavina can be heard on a number of songs especially on their remake of "Canto De Maria Clara", a Spanish poem written by Filipino writer and national hero José Rizal which appeared on the novel Noli Me Tangere (first published in 1887 in Berlin).

Some of the band's influences includes The Beatles, Morrissey, The Smiths, XTC, Belle & Sebastian, Trash Can Sinatras, The Pale Fountains, Terry Hall, and The Lightning Seeds.

Band members[link]

• Clementine (vocals, acoustic/electric guitar, banduria, octavina)
• Law Santiago (bass guitar)
• Bach Rudica (drums)
• George Carillo (electric guitar)

Live session members[link]

• Ian Zafra (guitars)

Former members[link]

• Ian Sarabia (drums)
• Paolo Peralta (guitars)

Discography[link]

• Pocket Guide to the Otherworld (CD album – July 2008, Lilystars Records)

• "The Sight Of Love" (digital single – February 2010, Lilystars Records)

• Bread and Circuses (CD EP – December 2010, Lilystars Records)

External links[link]

• Lilystars Records
• The Camerawalls Official Site
• The Camerawalls MySpace Page

References[link]

The Concubine is a deathcore band from Tabernacle Township, New Jersey. Formed in 2003, they have since toured with Knife the Glitter, Veil of Maya, Left to Vanish and other similar bands,^[1] and have been hailed on metal blogs as an up-and-coming metal band.^[2][3]

The group made their recording debut with a 2004 EP, Maestro, If You Will. Their first full-length album, Abaddon, received mixed reviews.^[4][5][6]

According to the band's Myspace,^[7] The Concubine has disbanded, citing "other interests and careers" as the reason for the break-up.

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Concubine's Official Site
• The Concubine's Purevolume
• The Concubine's Official Myspace