Jacobin (politics)

During the French Revolution (1789 to 1799), a Jacobin (French pronunciation: ​[ʒakɔbɛ̃]) was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary political movement that had been the most famous political club of the French Revolution. The club was so called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue Saint-Jacques (Latin: Jacobus) in Paris.

Today, Jacobin and Jacobinism are used in a variety of senses. Jacobin is sometimes used in Britain as a pejorative for radical, left-wing revolutionary politics (English pronunciation: /ˈdʒækəbᵻn/), especially when it exhibits dogmatism and violent repression. In France, Jacobin now generally indicates a supporter of a centralized republican state and strong central government powers and/or supporters of extensive government intervention to transform society.

Jacobins in the French Revolution

The Jacobin Club was one of several organizations that grew out of the French Revolution, and it was distinguished for its left-wing, revolutionary politics. Because of this, the Jacobins, unlike other sects like the Girondins, were closely allied to the sans-culottes, who were a popular force of working-class Parisians that played a pivotal role in the development of the revolution. The Jacobins had a significant presence in the National Convention, and were dubbed 'the Mountain' for their seats in the uppermost part of the chamber. Eventually, the Revolution coalesced around the Mountain's power, with the help of the insurrections of the sans-culottes, and, led by Robespierre, the Jacobins established a revolutionary dictatorship, or the joint domination of the Committee of Public Safety and Committee of General Security. The Jacobin dictatorship was known for enacting the Reign of Terror, which targeted speculators, monarchists, left-wing agitators, Hébertists, and traitors, and led to many beheadings.

Jacobin

The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (French: Société des amis de la Constitution), after 1792 re-named Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality (French: Société des Jacobins, amis de la liberté et de l'égalité), commonly known as the Jacobin Club (Club des Jacobins) or just collectively Jacobins (French: [ʒa.kɔ.bɛ̃ ], English /ˈdʒæ.kə.bɪnz/), was the most famous and influential political club in the development of the French Revolution. Initially founded by anti-Royalist deputies from Brittany, the Club grew into a nationwide republican movement, with a membership estimated at a half million or more. The Jacobin Club was heterogeneous and included both prominent parliamentary factions of the early 1790s, the radical Mountain and the more moderate Girondists.

In 1792–3, the Girondists (led by Brissot and including Thomas Paine) dominated the Jacobin Club and led the country. Believing that revolutionary France would not be accepted by its neighbours, they called for an aggressive foreign policy and forced war on Austria. The Girondists were the dominant faction when the Jacobins overthrew the monarchy and created the republic. When the Republic failed to deliver the unrealistic gains that had been expected, they lost popularity. The Girondists sought to curb fanatical revolutionary violence, and were therefore accused by the Mountain of being royalist sympathisers. The National Guard eventually switched its support from the Girondists to the Mountain, allowing the Mountain to stage a coup d'etat.

Politics

Politics (from Greek: πολιτικός politikos, definition "of, for, or relating to citizens") is the practice and theory of influencing other people. Politics involves the making of a common decision for a group of people, that is, a uniform decision applying in the same way to all members of the group. It also involves the use of power by one person to affect the behavior of another person. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance — organized control over a human community, particularly a state. Furthermore, politics is the study or practice of the distribution of power and resources within a given community (a usually hierarchically organized population) as well as the interrelationship(s) between communities.

A variety of methods are employed in politics, which include promoting or forcing one's own political views among people, negotiation with other political subjects, making laws, and exercising force, including warfare against adversaries. Politics is exercised on a wide range of social levels, from clans and tribes of traditional societies, through modern local governments, companies and institutions up to sovereign states, to the international level.

Verso Books

Verso Books (formerly New Left Books) is a publishing house based in London and New York City, founded in 1970 by the staff of New Left Review.

MSNBC describes Verso as a "radical left-wing" publishing house.

Renaming, new brand and logo

Verso Books was originally known as New Left Books. The name was changed in 2008. The name "Verso" refers to the technical term for the left-hand page in a book (see Recto and verso), and is a play on words regarding its political outlook and also reminds of the vice versa - "the other way around".

The new logo of the company shows a big red "V" with bolded left arm that also could be readed like a double V (one big and one smaller), and on the twitter of the Publisher the huge V-logo is even tripled in the background.

History and details

The publisher gained early recognition for translations of books by European thinkers, especially those from the Frankfurt School.

Verso Books' best-selling title is the autobiography of Rigoberta Menchú, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992.

French Revolution

The French Revolution (French: Révolution française [ʁevɔlysjɔ̃ fʁɑ̃sɛːz]) was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799, and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the French Empire. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, experienced violent periods of political turmoil, and finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon that rapidly brought many of its principles to Western Europe and beyond. Inspired by liberal and radical ideas, the Revolution profoundly altered the course of modern history, triggering the global decline of absolute monarchies while replacing them with republics and liberal democracies. Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history.