The «new Enlightenment politics» and the public sphere: introductions to economics in 18th-century Spain

Authors

  • Javier Usoz

Keywords:

«New politics», enlightenment policies, introductory readers on economics, public realm

Abstract

Economic thought in the eighteenth century conceived a new kind of politics, aimed at serving public happiness rather than dynastic power. The idea was to apply the «spirit of trade» to enlightened policy-making (which Montesquieu christened  «sweet commerce») to replace the then-hegemonic «spirit of conquest». In the adverse context of absolutism, such politics required public instruction and domestic and foreign publications to bring about a profound change in the way society saw things («public opinion»). Books and articles expressly intended to spread knowledge of economics came to be a genre in their own right. They show that economic thought could have played a hidden role as the debate about a constitution first began, especially in Spain, where political thought as such had so few outlets. Such introductory writings also reflect the characteristics of the public realm in the final stages of the antiguo regimen («old regime»).

Issue

Section

ARTICLES