“Communication networks” in pre-revolutionary France. Cultural history and renewal of social theory

Abstract

In the present work we will analyze the concept of “communication networks”, as proposed by the historian Robert Darnton in his research on the processes of formation of public opinion at the origins of the French revolution. The central hypothesis is that this notion allows us to tackle in a novel way the tensions of Cultural History.

We propose, in turn, that the use of this notion goes back to a tradition of French social theory that was forgotten for several decades by the dominant traditions in the social sciences: the theory of Gabriel Tarde. We consider relevant a reading of Darnton’s works in articulation with the sociological tradition, since this will allow us to unveil 1) the notion of “the social” that underlies his research; 2) the reason for its methodology; and 3) understand the author’s position in the controversies over the history of the book, especially the one he maintained with his colleague Roger Chartier.