Research School for Economic and Social History

Agenda

10 December 2024
15:00 - 17:00
Felix Archief, Auditorium, Oude Leeuwenrui 29, Antwerp, Belgium

PhD Defence Posthumus alumna Charris De Smet

On 10 December 2024 Posthumus alumna Charris De Smet will publicly defend her thesis for obtaining her PhD from the University of Antwerp. Her thesis is entitled ‘Framing French costumers into citizens. A comparative discourse analysis of debates on luxury and consumption in French parliament and the press in the age of revolution (1789-1848)’; promotors are Professor Ilja Van Damme and Professor Marnix Beyen (both University of Antwerp) and Professor Natacha Coquery (University Lumière Lyon 2). Please note that the defence ceremony will be at the Felix Archief.

Charris’ dissertation has reconstructed and comparatively investigated French parliamentary politics of luxury consumption in three revolutionary years, i.e. 1789, 1830 and 1848. Drawing the idea that consumption became depoliticized in this period into question, it has demonstrated that consumption was an important topic of discussion under different modern French political regimes. The close reading of the parliamentary debates has revealed that the contemporary development of consumerism in France was seen as inextricably tied to broader issues of citizenship, representation, political identity and national belonging between 1789 and 1848. Therefore, these topics constituted important political questions that warranted debate in the national legislative bodies on how to harness, encourage or remodel existing consumer behaviour and commodity culture for the sake of the wellbeing of the state and its citizens.

The N.W. Posthumus Institute wishes Charris a successful defence!

ANNOUNCEMENT (PNG)