2026/05/01 by Nicole Bauer · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #European Political History Analysis #Political Theory and Influence #Rousseau and Enlightenment Thought
paper · doi:10.1215/00161071-12271322
openalex publication_date 2026/05/01 · openalex created_date 2026/05/22 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/23
Abstract This article is a case study of a lawyer, Jean-Charles Le Prévôt, who was imprisoned from 1768 until the French Revolution. He was arrested for defaming and accusing several prominent individuals of being involved in a “famine plot,” a scheme to hoard grain in times of famine in order to sell it at exorbitant prices. As a Jansenist, he interpreted his social and political milieu through a biblical language of light and darkness, including a strong preoccupation with transparency, which translated to an obsession with conspiracies and government transparency. While in prison, he continued to accuse authorities of myriad conspiracies, accusations that were fueled both by his religious vision and the particular conditions of state prisons. The cultural influences that informed his worldview illuminate some of the origins of the political culture of the French Revolution.