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SUMMARY:Industrial pollution and politics in France: the great shift\, 175
 0–1830 - Thomas le Roux (Maison Française d'Oxford)
DTSTART:20140602T120000Z
DTEND:20140602T131500Z
UID:TALK51908@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Natalie Lawrence
DESCRIPTION:At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th c
 entury\, France was in the midst of an industrialisation that threw into q
 uestion the relationship between citizens and their environment. The devel
 opment of polluting and hazardous activities was a challenge for the Ancie
 n Regime society particularly concerned with public health and the rules o
 f neighbourly conduct\, and this led to a transformation in law and instit
 utions. My paper brings to light this revolution\, taking into \naccount t
 he range of social and political actors involved\, including the state\, t
 he town\, industrials\, jurists\, scientists\, and public opinion. It deta
 ils the complex processes that were to give factories and \nmanufacturing 
 plants\, particularly in the chemical sector\, the possibility of establis
 hing themselves into cities. In particular\, the study of the new forms of
  pollution Parisians were exposed to during \nthis period provides an all-
 encompassing history of this industrial capital\, not as the saga of entre
 preneurs but rather through the city's slow and difficult adaptation to th
 e risks of industry and technology. As part of the new approach of modern 
 manufacturing\, where nuisances are considered a part of progress\, Paris 
 became the laboratory for testing \nthe legitimacy of pollution\, ushering
  in an alliance between the state\, science\, and industry\, in an entirel
 y new kind of political project.This demonstration follows a chronological
  structure putting forward the idea of a major shift in environmental poli
 cy\, where chemistry was a leading force for changes. The preventive regul
 ation and practices under the Ancien Regime were replaced by a more modern
 ising political agenda by 1770 onwards\, driven by the pressing demand fro
 m industrials to \nalleviate the 'environmental' constraints on their site
 s of production. The development of industry and the emergence of new fact
 ories and manufacturing plants\, particularly in the chemical sector\, ren
 dered the traditional regulatory practices outdated. This pressure on the 
 local regulations unfavourable to industrial development increased during 
 the \nRevolution when the responsibility for redefining environmental regu
 lation was awarded to scientists\, chemists for the most part. After fifte
 en years of revolution\, members of the Academy – all chemists\, \namong
  them Chaptal - were called upon to advise as to the health dangers of pol
 luting industries. Their report in 1804 favoured industry and minimised th
 ese nuisances. In 1810\, after many debates\, trials and \ncontroversies\,
  the state laid down the decree on harmful industries – a legislative fr
 amework that protected industrial interests rather than a \nso-called 'env
 ironmental law'. The Paris Health Council\, an authority of the Minister a
 nd the Prefect\, was won over to industrial progress and \nsuggested addre
 ssing problems of pollution through technical improvement\, whilst simulta
 neously proclaiming most industries to be harmless: the technological prog
 ress of these industries\, based on \nchemical knowledge\, had to resolve 
 the various nuisances that it produced.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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