Tilly Charles 1975 'Major Forms of Collective Action in Western Europe, 1500--1975' CRSO Working...

7/28/2019 Tilly Charles 1975 'Major Forms of Collective Action in Western Europe, 1500--1975' CRSO Working Paper No. 123

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MAJOR FORMS OF COLLECTIVE ACTIONI N WESTERN EUROPE, 1500-1975

byC h ar le s T i l l y

The Universi ty of MichiganOctober 1975

CRSO Working Pa per il) 123 C op ie s a va i l a b le th r ough :C e nte r f o r R e se ar c h onS o c i a l O r g a n i z a t i onThe Universi ty of Michigan330 Packard 8214Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104


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Any e f f o r t t o s o r t i n t o a f ew c a t e g o r i e s t h e many d i f f e r e n tways Europeans have act ed to ge th er i n p ur su it of common gr i eva nce s ora s p i r a t i o n s i s bound t o do i n j us t i c e t o th e r i c h ne s s o f human be ha v io r .Y et t o c a t e g o r i z e i s a f i r s t s t e p o n t h e way t o i d e n t i f y i n g w hat t h e r ei s t o e x p l a i n , an d t h e r e f o r e on t h e way t o e x p l a i n i n g i t . I f we comparet h e c o n t in u ou s f o rm s of c o l l e c t i v e a c t i o n wh ic h p r e v a i l e d i n s i x t e e n t h -centu ry weste rn Europe -- t h e e x e r t i o n of p r e s s u r e t h ro ug h c r a f t g u i l d s ,t h e c o l l e c t i v e a p pe al t o a l a nd l o r d , a nd so on -- w i t h t h o s e of t h et w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , w e s e e a w or ld o f d i f f e r e n c e . I n t h e t w e n t i e t hc e n tu r y , we d i s co v e r e l e c t i o n s , p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s , a s s o c i a t i o n s ,p r e s su r e g r oups , t r a d e un ions and many o th e r f a c t io ns wh ic h wer ep r a c t i c a l l y n o n e x i s t e n t f i v e c e n t u r i e s ag o. The c o n t r a s t b et we enth e s i x t e e n t h and t he tw e n t i e th c e n tu r i e s a ppe a r s e ven more dr am at -

I

i c a l l y when we tu r n t o d i sc on t inuous f o rm s of a c t i on such a s th ep e a sa n t r e v o l t , t h e t a x r e b e l l i o n , o r t h e m ut in y. T h i s p ap er w i l ls k e t c h a r ou gh c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f d is c o n t i n u o u s f or ms o f c o l l e c t i v eac t i on , p la ce some of th e most widespread v a r i e t i e s of Europeanc o l l e c t i v e a c t i o n , w i t h i n t h e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , a nd d i s c u s s some of t h eways t h e r e p e r t o i r e of c o l l e c t i v e a c t i o n s a v a i l a b l e t o o r d in a r yEuropeans has changed since 1500.

The c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s t r e s s e s t h e n a t u r e of t h e i n t e r a c t i o nbetween o t he r groups and t he group whose ac t io n we a r e c l as s i fy in g .

More prec ise ly , i t d ep en ds on t h e c l a im s t h e c o l l e c t i v e a c t o r s a r ea s s e r t i n g i n t h e i r a c t i o n : c o m pe t it i v e c l a i m s , r e a c t i v e c l ai m s o rp r o a c t i v e c l a i m s .


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Co mpe t it i ve ac t i o n s l ay c l a i m t o r e s o u rce s a l s o c la imed byo t h e r g r ou ps which t h e a c t o r d e f i ne s a s r i v a l s , c o m pe t it o rs , o r a tl e a s t a s p a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h e same c o n t e s t . Take t h e c h a r i v a r i f o ran example. Only re ce n t ly have European h i s to r i an s begun t o uncovert h e l a rg e b a s e o f co mp e t i t i o n and co n t ro l o n w hi ch t h i s o s t e n s i b l yf r i v o l o u s cus to m re s t e d . J oh n G i l l i s (1974: 30-31) de sc ri be s ones t an d a rd v e r s i o n :

I n a t y p i c a l r u r a l c h a r i v a r i , a r e c e n t l y re m a rr i ed widowermight f i nd himse lf awakened by th e clamor of th e crowd, ane f f i g y o f h i s d ead w i f e t h ru s t up t o h i s window and a l i k e -ne ss of h im se lf , p laced backward on a n ass , drawn throught h e s t r ee t s f o r h i s n e ig hb or s t o see. Paying of a "con-t r i b u t i o n " t o t h e Lord of Mi s ru l e mig ht q u i e t h i s y o u t h fu lt o r m e nt o r s, b u t by t h a t t im e t h e v o i c e s o f v i l l a g e c o ns c ie n cehad made th e i r po i n t . Second marr i a ges inv ar iab ly d rew th egr ea te s t wra th and , by co n t ra s t , endogamous marr i ages ofyoung peo ple of roughly t he same ag e w e r e t h e o ccas i o n o ft h e y ou th g r ou p 's r e j o i c i n g . 1 n . t h a t c a s e , t h e f u nc t i on sof c ha ri v a ri were reversed and t he c oupl e were accompaniedb y a n o i s y c rowd t o t h e i r wedd in g b ed , t h e r i t u a l s en do f fof i t s former members by t h e pee r group.

Mild enough, even i f one adds th e customary thumping of pans and

blowing of horns. Y e t t h e ch a r i v a r i b ecame a " d is o rd e r" i n t h e e y e s( and , n o d o u b t, t h e ea r s ) o f t h e au t h o r i t i e s when it p e r s i s t ed mo ret h an a ni gh t o r two, o r when dozens of young people jo ined t h e fun.The v i l l a g e ag e-grou ps a l s o fo u g h t t h e y o u th o f n e i g h b o r in g v i l l ag es ,


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somet imes l e th a l ly . They a l s o assembled a s a b l o c a t p u b l i c ce remon ie s,sometimes mounting e la bo ra te cha rad es t o mock and warn tho se who hadt r a ns g r e ss e d t h e i r r u l e s . A l l t h e se a c t i v i t i e s a f f ir m ed t h e p r i o r i t yo f t h e v i l l a g e age -gr oup o v er t h e e l i g i b l e f e m a le s and o ve r t h e r i t u a l sof co u r t s h i p w i t h i n t h e i r own v i l l ag es . W i t h in t h e i r s p h e re , t h ey w ered e a d ly s e r i o u s .

The ch a r i v a r i , t h e v i l l ag e f i g h t and t h e y ou th g ro u p 's mockingceremony had many r el a t i ve s . There were bra wls between s tud ent groups ,d i f f e r e n t d et ac hm en ts of s o l d i e r s , s o l d i e r s a nd c i v i l i a n s , e t h n i c a ndre l i g i o u s g ro u ps . T he re w e re t h e more h i g h l y ro u t i n i zed s t ru g g l e s ofr i v a l gro up s of a r t i s a n w t o d i sh o no r each o t h e r ' s s ymbo ls , i mpede eacho t h e r ' s c er em on ie s and c h a ll e n g e ea ch o t h e r ' s p r i o r i t y i n pr o c e ss i o nsand o the r pub l i c as sembl ies . Somehow th es e fo rms of a c t io n seem t r i v i a land qua in t t o twen t i e th -cen tu ry peop le who have seen g ia n t wars andm a s s murder , and who have come to th ink o f "ser ious" p o l i t i c s a s hav inga n a t i o n a l o r i n t e rn a t i o n a l s co pe . They w e r e , i n d eed, u s u a l l y s ma l l ,s h o r t - l i v e d , l o c a l i n s co pe . They r a r e l y l i n k e d w i t h r e v o l u t i o n a r ymovements o r g r e a t r e b e l l i o n s . Ye t t h e y l e f t t h e i r t o l l of d e ad a ndi n j u r e d ; i n ti m es of c r i s i s th e y b le nd ed i n t o m ajo r c o n f l i c t s .

Some f e a t u re s o f co mp e t i t i v e co l l ec t i v e ac t i o n , s u ch as t h er i t u a l i z ed mocke ry, c a r r i e d o v e r i n t o t h e s eco nd maj or ca t eg o ry :r e a c t i v e c o l l e c t i v e a c t i o n s . They c o n s i s t of g ro up e f f o r t s t o r e a s s e r t

es t ab l i sh ed c la ims when someone e l s e cha l l e nges o r v i o la te s them.Speak ing of peasan t l and i nvas ions i n con temporary Peru , E . J . Hobsbawmp o i n t s o u t t h a t t h ey t ak e t h r ee fo rms: s q u a t t i n g o n l an d t o w hi ch noone (o r on ly th e government ) has a c l e ar t i t l e , e x p r o p r i a t i n g la n d t o

. ., . I K ' . ? ' , : '2 _ . . s + PL. L


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which t he inva ders have no t p re v ious ly en joyed a c l a im and t o whichsomeone e l s e ha s , repossess ing l and f rom which t he invaders havethemse lves been ex pr op ri at ed (Hobsbawm 1974: 120-121). The t h i r dv a r i a n t i s t h e c l e a r r e a c t i v e c a se : t h e d i s po s s es s e d r e a c t . T ha ts o r t of l a n d r e- oc c up at io n c h a r a c t e r i z e d t h e f i r s t s t a g g s of Z a p a ta ' sre be l l io n dur ing t he Mexican Revo lu t ion , recu r red th rough much ofs o u t h e rn I t a l y d ur i n g t h e mas si v e n i n et een th -cent u ry co n cen t r a t i o nof l and i n bourgeo i s and nob le hands, and marked th e conso l ida t ionof bour geoi s landown ership wherever i t d ev el op ed i n t h e p r e s en ce ofso l i da ry peasa n t communit ies. I n a s t a ndar d European sce na r io , ag ro up of v i l l a g e r s who h ad l o n g p as t u r ed t h e i r c a t t l e , g a t h e r e d f i r e -wood and glea ned i n common f i e l d s , found a l a n d l o r d o r a l o c a l o f f i c i a l(o r , more l i k e l y , t h e two i n co l l ab o ra t i o n ) f en c i n g t h e f i e l d s by newly-acqu i red o r newly-asser t ed r i gh t o f p roper ty . The v i l l a ge rs commonlywarned ag a i ns t the fenc ing . I f th e warn ing went unheeded , they a t t a cke dt h e f e n c e s an d t h e f e n c e r s . They ac t ed i n t h e name of r i g h t s t h ey s t i l lco n s i d e red v a l i d .

The o v e r l a p w i t h co mp e t i t i v e forms o f co l l e c t i v e ac t i o n app ea redc l e a r l y when costumed ave nge rs t tor e down th e fen ces o r occupied t hef i e l d s , a s i n t h e D emo is e ll e s movement o f t h e 1 83 0s i n t h e Py ren ees.I n o t h e r r e a c t i v e c o l l e c t i v e a c t i o n s , t h e o v e rl a p was a t l e a s t a snot ab le , f o r i n both ca se s th e ac to r s commonly assumed,more or less

s e l f- c o n sc i o us l y , t h e r o l e of t h e a u t h o r i t i e s who w er e b e in g d e r e l i c ti n . t h e i r : d u t y , and t h e gro up s w hich r eac t ed w ere o f t en t h e same l o ca ls o l i d a r i t i e s : t h e y o ut h g rou p s, g u i. l ds , .an d s o -o n .


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The basic outline of the land occupation applied to the bulkof European food riots, machine-breaking, tax rebellions and localactions against military conscription: all moved directly againstsomeone who had undus&ly deprived, or tried to deprive, a-local

/population of a precious resource. Yves-Marie Berce, expanding onhis comprehensive analysis of the seventeenth-century rebellion ofthe Croquants in southwestern France, has proposed that the kernelof European peasant rebellions before the nineteenth century was theresistance of closed, solidary peasant communities to outside attemptsto infringe upon their established rights and routines. In the caseof seventeenth-century France, he distinguishes four major occasionsfor rebellion: high food prices, billeting of troops, tax collectionand the imposition of excise taxes by tax farmers. In all these cases,reports ~erce', "Revolt is the strategy of the little people, an extra-

/ordinary organization for defense against fiscal aggression" (Berce1974: 11, 680-681). As community solidarity declined, according to

/Berce, the concerted peasant rebellion disappeared. Only much laterdid farmers and agricultural workers reappear in action. Now theywere organized around forward-looking special-interest groups. Al-though (as ~erce'himself concedes) the scheme homogenizes unduly theparticipants and motives in the older forms of conflict, it capturesan essential contrast. It is the contrast between reactive and pro-

active forms of collective action.Proactive collective actions assert group claims which have

not previously been exercised. The strike for higher wages or betterworking conditions provides an everyday illustration. Deliberate


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work stoppages to gain a point have probably existed since peoplefirst worked for one another. Natalie Zemon Davis (1975: 1-16)describes well-organized strikes in sixteenth-century Lyons. Butthe strike only became a common way of doing public business in thenineteenth century. As wage-work in organizations larger thanhouseholds expanded, the number and sca3.e of strikes also expanded.In most western countries, fifty to a hundred years went by in whichstrikes were increasingly frequent but remained illegal -- sometimesprosecuted, sometimes broken up by armed force, sometimes tolerated,always disapproved. Under pressure from organized workers and theirparliamentary allies, most western governments legalized the strikebetween 1860 and 1900. Since then, states that have stepped up re-pression (states of emergency, wartime governments, Fascist regimes)have normally rescinded the right to strike, and all regimes havenegotiated continually with workers and employers over who had theright to strike, and how. But in general the strike has been widelyavailable as a means of action since the beginning of the twentiethcentury.

Government sanction of the strike shows up in strike statistics;they date from the 1880s or 1890s in most western countries. Theirappearance reflects the working out of a standard public definition ofthe work "strike", and the formation of a bureaucracy to monitor and

regulate the strike's use. In France, Michelle Perrot (1974) arguesthat the strike lost much of its expressive function, its festival air,its revolutionary potential, as the bureaucratization of the 1890s setin. By way of compensation, it became a more widely accessible, lessrisky way of making demands.


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Se ve ra l o the r p r oa c t iv e fo rms of c o l l e c t i ve a c t i on came in t oth e i r own dur ing the n ine te enth century . The demonst ra t ion , th esponsored pu b l i c mee ting a nd the p e t i t i o n d r iv e began t o t h r iv e wi tht h e a r r i v a l of mass e l e c t o r a l p o l i t i c s . The sei zu re of premises bya n insu r re c t i ona ry c ommit te e a l s o ge ne ra l i z e d dur ing th e n ine t e e n thc e nt u r y, a lt h ou g h t h e: : ti e s t o e l e c t o r a l p o l i t i c s a r e more d i s t a n t .The mi l i ta ry pronunciamento i s of th e same vin tag e. On t h e oth erhand, t h e ge ne ra l s t r i k e , t he s i t - i n and t he fa rme rs ' dumping ofs u r p l u s c r o ps i n p r o t e s t a r e e s s e n t i a l l y t w e nt ie th - ce n tu r y c r e a t i o n s .P r o a c t iv e f or ms of c o l l e c t i v e a c t i o n h av e p r o l i f e r a t e d o v e r t t h e i l a s ttwo centur ies .

My la b e l in g of forms ha s a c a t c h t o i t . S t r i c t l y s pe ak in g,a p u b l i c m ee ti ng o r a g e n e r a l s t r i k e co ul d f i t an y of t h e t h r e e t y pe s:c o m p et i ti v e , r e a c t i v e o r p r o a c ti v e . J u s t a s t h e c h a r i v a r i c o ul d mocka wrongdoer o r ce l eb ra te a r ight -doer , people can demonst ra te fo rsomething , a ga ins t something , o r bo th a t once . The c l a s s i f i c a t i on a sc ompe t i t ive , r e a c t i v e o r p ro a c t ive depends on the c l a ims be ing a s se r t e d ,not on th e form of t h e ac t ion . The sq ua t t i ng and exp rop r ia t in g landoccupat ions descr ibed by Hobsbawm have a f a r more pr oa ct iv e f la vo r thanth e re -oc c upa t ions o f l o s t l a nd , a l t hough the a c tu a l be ha vio r i nvolvedi n t h e t h r e e c a s es i s qu i t e s imi l a r . Workers have o f t e n s t r uc k inde fe nse o f t h re a t e ne d job r i gh t s . Those s t r i k e s w e r e react ive . Never-

t h e l e s s t h e r e i s a gen era l a ssoc iakton?be tween proac t io n and s t r i k ea c t i v i t y : s i n c e t h e e a r l y n ine t e e n th c e n tu ry , worke rs who ha ve a s se r t e dnew claims have commonly done so v i a t h e s t r i k e . A s u b s t a n t i a l m a j or i tyo f s t r i ke s have a s s e r t e d new c l aims . Pa r a l l e l obse rva t ions a pp ly t o


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demonstrations, public meetings and the like. Thus it is a shorthand --but a shorthand which will do no harm once we understand it -- to speakof the food riot as a reactive form of collective action and the demon-stration as a proactive form.

In the Europe of the past few hundred years, the three formsof collective action have waxed and waned in sequence. In the fifteenthand sixteenth centuries, competitive actions seem to have predominated.From the seventeenth into the nineteenth century, the reactive formsbecame much more widespread, while the competitive forms remainedsteady or perhaps declined. With the nineteenth and twentieth cen-turies, proactive collective action began to predominate, the reactiveforms dwindled, while new competitive forms came into existence. If Iread the recordbaright, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europeanstook collective action in defense of threatened rights much more thantheir predecessors had, while twentieth-century Europeans became ex-ceptionally prone to act in support of claims they had not previouslyexercised.

The reasons for the successive changes are, I think, twofold:1) during the period from 1600 to 1850, more so than before and after,the agents of international markets and of national states were pressingtheir new (and proactive) claims on resources which had up to then beenunder the control of innumerable households, communities, brotherhoods

and other small-scale organizations. The small-scale organizations re-acted repeatedly. They fought against taxation, conscription, theconsolidation of landed property and numerous other threats to theirorganizational well-being. Eventually the big structures won, thebattle died down, the reactive forms diminished. 2) Increasingly,


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the stocks of resources necessary to group survival came under thecontrol of large organizations, especially governments, which onlyredistributed them under the pressure of new claims. There may bea third factor: 3) a general decline in the difficulty of collectiveaction during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as a result ofthe massing of population in large settlements and big organizations,the elaboration of communications, the expansion of elections as away of doing public business. I hesitate to propose this third factor,because we must weigh against these facilitators of collective actionthe.increased repressive activity and repressive efficiency of govern-ments and other large organizations. Intrinsic costs are down, but thecosts imposed by others are up. I guesssthat the intrinsic costs havedeclined more than the imposed costs have risen. In the present stateof our knowledge, however, that judgment is both risky and unverifiable.

The scheme provides a convenient means of summing up thelargest trends in the evolution of collective violence in westernEurope over the last four or five centuries. Two main processes have.dominated all the rest: 1) the rise of national states to preeminentpositions in a wide variety of political activities; 2) the increasinglyassociational character of the principal contenders for power at thelocal as well as at the national level.

In 1500, no full-fledged national state with unquestioned

priority over the other governments within its territory existed any-where in the West. England was probably the closest approximation.The England of 1500 was, however, only fifteen years past the slayingof King Richard 111 by Henry Tudor at Bosworth Field. It was fresh fromthe widely-supported rebellions of Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck.


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It had yet to effect the union with Scotland. It still harbored anumber of great lords who controlled their own bands of armed retainers.Government itself consisted largely of shifting, competing coalitionsamong great magnates and their retinues, the king being the greatestmagnate of the strongest coalition. Become Henry VII, Henry Tudorbegan the large work of statemaking which Henry VIII and Elizabeth sovigorously pursued.

A century and a half after 1500, a great civil war reopened thequestion-of whether the centralized royal apparatus the Tudors, andthen the Stuarts, had begun building would be the dominant politicalorganization Qn England. In fact, the state which emerged in 1688had rather different contours from the state the Tudors and Stuartshad been building. The strength and autonomy of Parliament far ex-ceeded anything a cool observer of the England of 1600 or 1620 couldreasonably have anticipated.

In 1500 most states faced serious challenges to their hegemonyfrom both inside and outside the territory. Only a small minority ofthe hundreds or more or less autonomous governments survived the nexttwo centuries of statemaking. Most power was concentrated in politicalunits of smaller than national scale: communities, city-states, princi-palities, semi-autonomous provinces. Most contenders for power in thosepolitical units were essentially communal in structure: craft brother- ,

hoods, families, peasant communities. The predominant foms of collectiveviolence registered those circumstances: wars between rival governments,brawls between groups of artisans, battles among the youth of neighboringcommunes, attacks by one religious group on another.


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The r i s e of t h e s t a t e t h r e a t e n e d t h e power (a nd o f t e n t h e v e ry, s u r v i v a l ) o f a l l t h e s e s m a ll -s c al e u n i t s . They r e s i s t e d . The s t a t e -

mak er s o n ly won th e i r s t r u g g le f o r pr ed ominan ce o v e r t h e f u r io u s r e -s i s t a nc e o f p r in ce s , communes, p rov ince s and peasan t communi ties . Fors e v e r a l c e n t u r i e s t h e p r i n c i p a l form s of c o l l e c t i v e v i o le n c e t h e r e f o r eg rew f ro m r e ac t i v e movements o n t h e p a r t o f d i f f e r e n t s eg men ts of t h ege ne ra l popu la t i on : comunal ly -based con t ende r s f o r power fought ag ai ns tl o s s o f mem bership i n p o l i t i e s , i nd e ed a g a i n s t t h e v e r y d e s t r u c t i o no f t h e p o l i t i c a l u n i t s i n which t h e i r power was i nv e s t ed . C o l l e c t i v er e s i s t an c e t o c o n sc r i pt i o n, t o ta x a t io n , t o b i l l e t i n g , t o a wholev a r i e t y of o t h e r e x a c t i o n s of t h e s t a t e e xe m pl if y t h i s r e a c t i v e r o adt o c o l l e c t i v e v io le nc e .

For a cen tury o r more i n t kh e exp er ie nce o f mos t West Europeanco un t r ie s , however , t h e mos t f r e que n t fo rm of v io lence-producing re-a c t i v e movement aimed a t t h e ma rk et m ore d i r e c t l y t h a n a t t h e s t a t e .That was th e food r i o t . The name i s m i s l ea d i n g : m ost o f t e n t h e s t r u g g l etu rned about r a w g r a i n r a t h e r t h a n e d i b l e s , an d m ost of t h e t i m e i t d i dn o t r e a c h t h e p o i n t of p h y s i c a l v i o l e n c e . The c l a s s i c Eu ro pe an f oo dr i o t had t h r e e main v a r i a n t s : t h e r e t r i b u t i v e a c t i o n , i n which acrowd a t ta ck ed th e per son s , p ro per ty o r p remises o f someone bel i eve dt o b e h o a r di n g o r p r o f i t e e r i n g ; t h e b l o c ka g e , i n w hi ch a g ro up oflo ca l p eo p le p r ev en ted t h e sh ip ment o f f o o d o u t of t h e i r own lo c a l i t y ,

r e q u i r i n g i t t o be s t o re d o r s o l d l o c a l l y ; t h e p r i c e r i o t , i n which-p e op l e s e i z e d s t o r e d f o od o r f oo d d i s p l a y e d f o r s a l e , s o l d i t p u b l i c l ya t . p r i c e t h e y d e c l a r e d t o b e p r o p e r, a nd hand ed t h e money o v er t o t h eowner o r merchant.


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I n th e best -documented cas es - England and France of th e e igh t een than d n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s -- t he b lockage occu r red more f r e que n t l y t hant h e p r i c e r i o t , an d much more o f t e n t h a n t h e r e t r i b u t i v e a c t i o n . I nthose two co un t r i e s , t he food r i o t p ra c t i c a l l y d i s appeared some t im edur ing t h e n ine t ee n th cen tu ry . La t e r , ques t i o ns of food supp lym ot iva ted d ram at i c c o l l e c t i v e ac t i on s now and t hen , bu t a lmos t a lwaysi n t h e form of demons t ra t ions i n which producers complained about lowpr ic es o r consumers complained about h ig h pr ic es .

The t i mi n g o f t h e f oo d r i o t ' s r i s e and f a l l i s r e v e a l i n g .In England , France and some o the r p a r t s o f w es tern Europe, t he foodr i o t d i s p l ac e d t h e t a x r e b e l l i o n a s t h e most f r e q u e nt v i o l e n t for m ofc o l l e c t i v e a c t i o n t ow ar d t h e e nd of t h e s e v e n te e n t h c en t u r y . I tdec l i ne d p rec ip i t ou s ly i n Engl and j u s t a f t e r 1820 , i n Germany andF ra nc e j u s t a f t e r 1 85 0, o n l y t o l i n g e r o n i n p a r t s o f S pa in and I t a l yin to t h e twen t i e th cen tu ry . The ca l end ar d id no t con fo rm t o t h eh i s t o r y o f hunger ; i ndeed t h e g rea t k i l l i n g fam ines o f Med ievaland Renaissance Europe w e r e d i s a pp e a r i n g a s t h e f oo d r i o t came i n t o i t sown, and per ca pi ta food supply was probab ly in cr ea si ng through muchof t h e p e r i o d . I n s t e a d , t h r e e c o n j o i n t ch an ge s a c c ou n t f o r t h e t im in g:1 ) t h e p r o l e t a r i a n i z a t i o n o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n , w hi ch meant a d r a s t i cdim+fiutifonn i n t h e pro po rti on of hou seh old s wfiich produced enough foodfo r t h e sub s i s t enc e of t h e i r own members, a g re a t expansion i n t henumber dependent on t he market f o r su rv iv al ; 2 ) t he com m erc i a l i za t i onof food produ ct ion , which included th e bui l d in g of nat io na l marketsand t h e promotion o f t he i deas t h a t t h e na t i o na l marke t shou ld havep r i o r i t y o v e r l o c a l ne e ds and t h a t t h e m a r k e t 's o p e r a t i o n te n de d t os e t a j u s t , p ro pe r and e f f i c i e n t p r i c e ; 3 ) t h e d i s m a n tl i n g of t h e


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e x t e n s i v e p r e v i o u sl y - e x i s ti n g c o n t r o l s o v e r t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of f o od ,wh ic h ga ve th e lo c a l popu la t ion a pr io r c l a im ove r f ood pr oduc edand s o l d i n a l o c a l i t y , and bound t h e l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s t o p ro v i def o r t h e s u b s i s t e n c e o f t h e l o c a l p oo r.

E. P. Thompson has ca l l ed th e en t i r e proce ss a d e c l i ne i nth e o l d Mora l Economy, a s h i f t f rom a bread nexus t o a cash nexus.-- --P e op l e r e s i s t e d t h e p r o c e s s s o l o n g as l o c a l s o l i d a r i t y a nd somec o l l e c t i ve memory o f the lo c a l i ty ' s p r i o r c l a im s su r v ive d . To a nim por ta n t de g r e e , t he cr owd 's a c t i on s o f b loc k ing , inve n to r y ing ,

s t o r i n g , d e cl a ri n g a pr ic e and ho ld ing a p u b li c s a l e f o r t h e b e n e f i tof t h e l o c a l s f u l f i l l e d what had p r e v i o u s l y b ee n t h e o b l i g a t i o n s oft h e l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s i n d e al i n g wi t h s h o r t ag e s and h i g h p r i c es .M a g i s t r a t e s o r m ay ors o f t e n ac kn ow led ge d t h a t f a c t i m p l i c i t l y bya cq u ie s ci n g i n t h e ro u t in e . When l o c a l o f f i c i a l s to ok t h e i n i t i a t i v ethemse lves , t h e crowd us ua l l y s topped i t s work.

The immediate ob je ct s of t h e crowd's a t t e n t i o n were commonlyl o c a l o f f i c i a l s , b a k e r s , r i c h f a r me rs an d, e s p e c i a l l y , g r a i n m er ch an ts .The s t r u g g l e p i t t e d t h e c l a im s of t h e n a t i o n a l m ar ke t a g a i n s t t h ec la im s o f th e lo c a l popu la t ion . F or th a t r e a son , th e geogr aphy o ft h e fo od r i o t r e f l e c t e d t h e ge og ra ph y o f t h e g r a i n m ar ke t: t e n d i n g t oform a r i ng a round London, P ar is , a n o t h e r c a p i t a l o r a m ajo r p o r t ,c o n c e n tr a t i n g e s p e c i a l l y a l o n g r i v e r s , c a n a l s and p r i n c i p a l r o a ds .For th e ac ut e Eng lish c r i s e s of 1795-96 and 1800-01, Stevenson remarks:"The map shows th e e x t re m e ly c l os e r e l a t i on sh ip o f d i s tu r ba n c e s t o th econununica t ions ne twork i n t he p roduc t ion a r ea s a round London i n t he setwo s h o r t a g es . The m os t s t r i k i n g p a t t e r n o v e r a l l i s t h a t of 1795-96when a t l e a s t f i f t y fo od d i s t u r b a n c e s t o o k p l a c e a t c om mu ni ca ti on- , . " * . - ,


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c e n t re s , e i t h e r c o a s t a l p o r t s , c a na l o r r i v e r p o r t s , o r t owns w i t h i ne a sy c a r t in g d i s t a n c e o f m a jo r popu la t ions c e n t r e s" ( S teve nson 1974: 43 ) .Y et t h e r e f l e c t i o n of t h e m ar ke t came th r ou g h a d i s t o r t i n g m i r r o r , f o rth e most th orou ghly commercial ized areas , a d j ac e nt t o l a r g e o l d c i t i e s ,d id no t ty f i i c a l ly p r oduc e f ood r io t s . The re , t h e m a rke t had a l r e a dywon o u t o v e r l o c a l r i g h t s t o t h e f oo d s up p l y .

D e s p i t e t h e s a l i e n c e of t h e ma rk e t, t h e f oo d r i o t a l s o r e s u l t e di n p a r t from t h e r i s e of t h e n a t i o n a l s t a t e . I n g e n e r al ( a lt h ou g h w i t hg r e a t h e s i t a t i o n s , v a r i a t i o n s an d d i f f e r e n c e s i n o ut co me ) Eu ro pe ans t a t e m ak e r s a c t e d t o pr om ot e a l l t h r e e o f t h e p ro c e s s e s u n d e rl y i n g t h ef ood r i o t : p r o l e t a r i a n iz a t i on , c om me rc cLal iz at ion, d i sm a n t l ing o f lo c a lc o n t r o l s . A s t h e i r de pe nde n t gover nm en t s t a f f s , u r ba n popu la t ions a n d .non- a g r i c u l tu r a l l a b o r f o r c e s swe l l e d , t h e m anager s o f s t a t e s i n t e r ve ne di n c r e a s i n g l y t o p ro mo te m a r k e ti n g . (There i s i ro ny i n t h e f a c t t h a tthe y a c te d th us i n th e name of f r e e ing th e ma r ke t . ) A s Stevenson sayso f t h e En g l is h c r i s i s o f 1 79 5:

The government, however, was determined t o keep ou t of t h ei n t e r n a l c o r n t r a d e . a n d a t t e m p te d t o ke ep up t h e n or ma lc i r c u l a t i o n of g r a i n , s o t h a t t h e l a r g e ur ba n c e n t r e s wouldbe supp l ied . On th es e grounds the government re fus ed t oy i e l d t o t h e p l e a s of l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s and i n t e r f e r e w i th

t h e normal movement of g ra i n . . . It was r e p o r t e d t o t h eHome Off ic e t h a t st op pi ng t h e movement of g r a i n had becomes o wi de sp re ad t h a t c o u nt r y m i l l e r s w e re s a i d t o b e f r i g h t e n e dt o s en d g r a i n t o t h e c a p i t a l e x ce p t by n i g h t. I n a n a t t e mp tt o f r e e t h e c i r c u l a t i o n o f g r a i n f rom t h e s e c he ck s t h e


17/22

government passed an a c t t o p reve n t t h e s t o p p i n g o f g r a i n bymaking t h e wh ol e h un dr ed l i a b l e t o f i n e an d i n d i v i d u a l s l i a b l et o f i n e and imprisonment (Stevenson 1974: 41-42).

I n t h a t c r i s i s , many l o c a l o f f i c i a l s s o ug ht t o r e s t r i c t t h e f lo w ofgr ai n away from t h e i r own markets . Wi th in th r ee decades , however, themarket and th e na t i on a l government had won t h e i r b a t t l e ; few mayors andm a g i s t r a t e s c ho se t o c o u n te r t h e n a t i o n a l w i l l , and few hungry crowdsharbored th e hope of making them do so . One of t h e gr ea t Engl i sh formsof co l l ec t i v e a c t i o n h ad w i th e red away.

Two th in gs e ve ntu al l y put a n end t o th e predominance of th er e a c t i v e f o r ms , a l t h o u g h a t t imes and a t tempos which varied markedlyfr om o ne p a r t o f t h e West t o an o t h e r. F i r s t , t h e s t a t e won a lm o steverywhere. One may as k how comp lete t h e v i c t o r y of t h e s t a t e w a s i nt h e re mo te s e c t i o n s of v a s t t e r r i t o r i e s s uc h a s Ca na da , A u s t r a l i a o rBr az i l , and s p e cu l a t e w h et he r r ecen t s u rg es of s ec t i o n a l i s m i n Belgiu m,G rea t Br i t a i n and ev en F rance p re s ag e t h e en d o f s t a t e co n t ro l . Yeton th e whole th e two ce nt ur ie s af t e r 1700 produced an enormous con-ce n t r a t i o n o f r e s o u rce s and means of co e rc i o n un de r t h e co n t r o l ofn a t i o n a l s t a t e s , t o t h e v i r t u a l e x c l us i o n of o t h e r l e v e l s of govern-ment. Second, a whole s e r i e s o f o r ga n iz a t i ona l changes c l os e l yl i n k e d t o u r b a n i z a t io n , i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n and t h e e xp a ns io n of c a p i t a l i s m

g r ea t l y r ed u ced t h e r o l e of t h e communal g ro u p a s a s e t t i n g f o r mo ki- .b i l i z a t i o n a n d a s a r e p o s i t o r y f o r p ower; t h e a s s o c i a t i o n of o ne k in do r a no th er came t o b e t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c v e h i c le f o r c o l l e c t i v e a c t io n .The r i s e o f t h e j o i n t - s to c k company, t h e p o l i t i c a l p a r t y , t h e l a b o ru ni on , t h e c l u b a l l b e lo ng t o t h e same g e n e r a l t r e n d .


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Working t o g e t h e r , t h e v i c t o r y o f t h e s t a t e and t h e r i s e ofthe a ss oc ia t i on t rans fo rmed t he c o l l e c t iv e ac t ion s which most commonlyp rod uc ed v i o l e n c e . I n c o u nt r y and a f t e r c ou n t r y, p o l i t i c s n a t i o n a l i z e d ;t h e c r d c i a l s t r u g g l e s f o r power went o n a t a n a t i o n a l s c a l e . Thep a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h o s e s t r u g g l e s we re m ost o f t e n o r g a n iz e d a s a s s o c i a t i o n s .The s t r i k e , t h e d emo n s tr a t i on , t h e p a r t y co n s p i r acy , t h e o rg an izedmarch o n t h e ca p i t a l , t h e p a r l iamen t a ry s e s s i o n , t h e mass meetingbecame t h e u s u a l s e t t i n g s fo r co l l e c t i v e v i o l en ce . The s t a t e becamea n i n t e r e s t e d p a r t i c i p a n t i n a l l c o l l e c t i v e v i ol e nc e -- a s po li ceman ,a s p ar ty t o t h e c o n f li c t , a s t e r t i u s g au dens . A lt ho ug h a t f i r s tg l a n c e su c h e x o t i c e v e n t s a s c h a r i v a r i s and f ood r i o t s seem f a rremoved f ro m q u es t i o n s of power and p o l i t i c s , t h e i r r i s e and f a l ld ep en ds i n t i m a t e l y on ch an ges i n t h e s t ru c t u r e of p o l i t i c a l power.


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