Les grains de la colère. Géographie de l’émotion populaire en France au sujet de la cherté des céréales (1816-1817)

Abstract

By examining protests over the high price of wheat, this article attemps to re-evaluate the true impact of the variable «price » on protest movements. Over and above the pressure exerted by the increase in the price of produce, other factors figured in increases in popular unrest. Oversimplification and a mechanistic analysis linking these protests with the high price of grain fail to explain the nature of these movements. It is necessary, therefore, to consider not only structural elements, but also the interplay of local unions, the impact of descriptions of self and other, and the influence of rumours and expectations.