A Reversal of Perspective: The Subject as Citizen under Absolute Monarchy, or the Ambiguity of Notions
Citizen_subject_definition.pdf (148.5 KB)
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Date
2007
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ASPRA-JR, Warsaw University
Abstract
Europe has never had a single definition for the term ‘citizen.’ Indeed, over the centuries the significance of this term has undergone far-reaching evolution. In different historical periods, different states, and different European languages, this term has had diverse meanings and has been used in varying contexts. The concept of ‘citizen’ has repeatedly been defined anew depending upon specific political, social, and economic conditions. At various periods, the term ‘citizen’ has related to a wider or narrower portion of a given state’s society. The criteria by which an individual was said to form a part of the body of citizens have also differed. The changes which have taken place in the definition of a ‘citizen’ over the centuries are enormous. This is not to say, however, that there has been no common core to the concept of citizen as it has taken shape over the course of hundreds of years. As far back as ancient times, a member of the state could influence the shaping of that state’s authorities and could participate in government. It is the Aristotelian concept of the citizen – a concept that has influenced all historical models of citizenship since – which is at the root of the citizen understood as a political animal (politikon zoon). In addition, personal freedom has always been a sine qua non for possessing citizen status. Thus, a citizen has always been, and remains, the opposite of a slave. It has also come to be accepted that citizenship implies the primacy of an individual’s rights in a state over an individual’s obligations to that state. The polar opposite of this situation in the historical dimension is subjection to the monarch in an absolute monarchy. Thus the ‘citizen’ also stands in opposition to the ‘subject.’ When speaking of the historical models containing the said ‘citizenship traits’ of a person’s status in the state, we usually refer to the model of the citizen in ancient times, in medieval municipal citizenship, and in modern times, in the fully−formed nation-state. It is difficult to imagine a citizen in an absolute monarchy, and in a world of subjection. Still, it is possible to give rein to one’s imagination and perceive citizens in such a setting; one could even go a step further and call the subject of an absolute monarch a citizen. But is imagination truly necessary in order to conduct such a seemingly obvious reversal of perspective? Published in: Krzysztof Trzciński (ed.), The State and Development in Africa and Other Regions: Past and Present. Studies and Essays in Honour of Professor Jan J. Milewski, ASPRA-JR, Warsaw University, Warsaw 2007, pp. 319-332.
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Keywords
Jean Bodin Bodin absolute sovereignty theory of sovereignty sovereignty obedience ambiguity of notions citizen citizenship subject subjection concept of citizen concept of subject absolute monarchy absolutism subject in absolutism subject in absolute monarchy definition of subject definition of citizen France French absolutism absolutist state French philosophy monarch citizen in an absolute monarchy subject in an absolute monarchy reversal of perspective subject as citizen absolute monarchy in France French monarchy
Citation
Trzciński, Krzysztof. 2007. "A Reversal of Perspective: The Subject as Citizen under Absolute Monarchy, or the Ambiguity of Notions." In The State and Development in Africa and Other Regions: Past and Present. Studies and Essays in Honour of Professor Jan J. Milewski, edited by Krzysztof Trzciński, 319-332. Warsaw: ASPRA-JR, Warsaw University.