France, Alternative Libertaire AL #235 - Classic subversion: Dominic Rousseau "The Red priest, life and death of Jacques Roux" (fr, pt)

Spartacus editions come to seem a biography of Jacques Roux, written by Dominic Rousseau: 
The red priest, life and death of Jacques Roux . This revolutionary priest, relatively 
unknown compared to the great figures of the French Revolution as Robespierre and Danton, 
was nevertheless one of the figureheads of enrages. They were one of the closest of our 
ideas during the French Revolution political trends (1789-1794). Indeed, in the history 
books, the French Revolution is seen as the triumph of the bourgeoisie over the nobility 
and royalty. This is not entirely true. It was also a time when the popular classes 
(workers and peasants) were expressed at the ruling classes (bourgeoisie and nobility). 
Independent workers and urban workers have sometimes clashed violently with the interests 
of the bourgeoisie, especially in Paris.

The Enraged, including Jacques Roux is part, is a common tip for this fight. The 
sans-culottes struggle for political power to impose their National Assembly claims that 
often revolve around the maximum. The watchwords are then equal enjoyment, that is to say 
the right for everyone to meet its needs without financial considerations, and direct 
government which is a form of direct democracy. The book traces the life of Roux, and how 
he was involved in this fight. It teaches some time, then became pastor of the village. He 
spent the beginning of the revolution in Charente before coming to Paris when the 
Revolution began to radicalize. First close to Marat, he moves away and somehow becomes 
the leader enrages.

The book does not just tell the priest's life. It provides some background on every moment 
of his life, such as some very interesting pages on the role of priests during the 
revolution. If you have the image of the priest and reactionary royalist, is to forget 
that many of them align themselves with the Revolution and all the fighting.

The book ends with the story of the suppression of Enrag?s: threatening to cause the 
Sans-culottes against the government, they are the first victims of the Terror, and 
Jacques Roux was imprisoned in September 1793. He died in prison in February 1794. This 
book can be a little difficult to read is the opportunity to discover a pan overshadowed 
the French Revolution: the one who saw the people rise up against the bourgeoisie in the 
name of his interests.

Matthijs (AL Montpellier)

Dominic Rousseau, Red cure: Life and Death of Jacques Roux , Spartacus, in 2013, 13 euros.