Podcast 26: Up the Republic! w/ Richard Barbrook

The Storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789

On the 14th July 1789, revolution was overtaking Paris. An economic crisis and shortage of bread (in part occasioned by France’s involvement in the American Revolution) had ignited a revolutionary republican fervor that had overtaken the capital. In the mid-morning of July 14th a crowd gathered outside the Bastille, a medieval fortress, a prison and also a symbol of monarchic rule. Demanding the release of its prisoners, the removal of its canons and release of its arms and gunpowder, the crowed stormed the Bastille and seized control.

The events of the Bastille would mark a key victory for the French Revolution, but also an important date in the history of republicanism. In this session, we will be joined by Richard Barbrook to discuss the events of the 14th July and the history of revolutionary republicanism in France and elsewhere.

Richard Barbrook is a senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster. He is the co-author of The Californian Ideology, which he wrote in 1995 with Andy Cameron. He is also the author of Media Freedom (1995), Imaginary Futures: From Thinking Machines to the Global Village (2007), Class Wargames: Ludic Subversion Against Spectacular Capitalism (2014). He coordinated the Digital Democracy Manifesto for Jeremy Corbyn’s 2016 leadership campaign. He is currently working on a book on the state.