Books by Max Skjönsberg
Ideas in Context, Cambridge University Press, 2021
Political parties are taken for granted today, but how was the idea of party viewed in the eighte... more Political parties are taken for granted today, but how was the idea of party viewed in the eighteenth century, when core components of modern, representative politics were trialled? From Bolingbroke to Burke, political thinkers regarded party as a fundamental concept of politics, especially in the parliamentary system of Great Britain. The paradox of party was best formulated by David Hume: while parties often threatened the total dissolution of the government, they were also the source of life and vigour in modern politics. In the eighteenth century, party was usually understood as a set of flexible and evolving principles, associated with names and traditions, which categorised and managed political actors, voters, and commentators. Max Skjönsberg thus demonstrates that the idea of party as ideological unity is not purely a nineteenth- or twentieth-century phenomenon but can be traced to the eighteenth century.
Edited Books by Max Skjönsberg
The writings of republican historian and political pamphleteer Catharine Macaulay (1731–91) playe... more The writings of republican historian and political pamphleteer Catharine Macaulay (1731–91) played a central role in debates about political reform in the Age of Enlightenment and Revolution. A critical reader of Hume's bestselling History of England, she broke new ground in historiography by defending the regicide of Charles I and became an inspiration for many luminaries of the American and French revolutions. While her historical and political works engaged with thinkers from Hobbes and Locke to Bolingbroke and Burke, she also wrote about religion, philosophy, education and animal rights. Influencing Wollstonecraft and proto-feminism, she argued that there were no moral differences between men and women and that boys and girls should receive the same education. This book is the first scholarly edition of Catharine Macaulay's published writings and includes all her known pamphlets along with extensive selections from her longer historical and political works.
Bristol Record Society, 2022
Founded at a series of meetings in December 1772, the Bristol Library Society aimed to connect on... more Founded at a series of meetings in December 1772, the Bristol Library Society aimed to connect one of the eighteenth century’s most important transatlantic ports with a dynamic cultural movement which sought to bring books, knowledge and enlightenment to urban communities across the English-speaking world. Between 1731 and 1801, well over 350 subscription libraries were established across the British Isles and North America in towns ranging from tiny rural settlements like Wigtown in rural Scotland and Fredericktown on the Pennsylvanian frontier, through to rapidly growing industrial centres like Belfast and Leeds, and bustling transatlantic ports like New York and Liverpool. Subscription libraries – sometimes termed proprietary libraries or (especially in North America) social libraries – were based on a simple model, pioneered by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, whereby members paid a joining fee and an annual subscription to fund a common stock of books. The Bristol Library Society eventually became one of the largest of its kind, boasting nearly 300 members and around 8,000 books by the early decades of the nineteenth century. While its unique run of surviving borrowing registers is an important source for understanding British reading habits, this edition of the Library Society’s annual general meetings and administrative committee meetings – published on the 250th anniversary of its foundation – sheds fresh light on the operation of the library and the interests of the people involved in its foundation, including Bristol luminaries such as William Barrett, Richard Champion, John Prior Estlin, Samuel Farr and Joseph Harford. Biographical information is given, not just on those active in the library committee, but numerous Bristolians recorded as owning or transferring shares in the Society. The volume also provides a bibliographical index of books recorded in the minute book.
Articles and Chapters by Max Skjönsberg
English Historical Review, 2023
This article explores the political career and writings of Richard Champion (1743–1791), a Bristo... more This article explores the political career and writings of Richard Champion (1743–1791), a Bristolian Quaker and merchant who acted as a local supporter and agent of the Rockingham Whigs. It aims to recover a forgotten aspect of Lewis Namier’s original ambition to understand eighteenth-century politics through the perspective of relatively ordinary people such as merchants and civil servants. However, against old Namierite assumptions, as well as much of the recent historiography on the post-1760 period in British politics which focuses on a dichotomous conflict between ‘radical Whigs’ and ‘new Tories’, this article restores the importance of the Rockingham Whigs. Importantly, it shows that a commercial Dissenter such as Champion could be fully attuned to the aristocratic and party-centred interpretation of British politics associated with the Rockinghamites and Edmund Burke, and thus encourages us to consider the idea of ‘aristocratic government’ in inclusive and eclectic ways. The case-study of Champion demonstrates that a close reading of political correspondence from the period can confirm, as well as destabilise, the Whig history of party.
Scandinavian Journal of History, 2023
Nils von Rosenstein’s Försök til en afhandling om uplysningen, til dess beskaffenhet, nytta och n... more Nils von Rosenstein’s Försök til en afhandling om uplysningen, til dess beskaffenhet, nytta och nödvändighet för samhället (An Attempt at a Dissertation on the Enlightenment, its Character, Usefulness and Necessity for Society), published in 1793, presents an unusually comprehensive theory of ‘the Enlightenment’ (Upplysningen) from a contemporary of the period. This article explores the impact of Enlightenment ideas in late eighteenth-century Sweden through the case study of Rosenstein and his remarkable text. While deepening our understanding of the Enlightenment in Sweden, it also expands our knowledge of the impact of the Scottish Enlightenment abroad, the scholarship on which has been mainly focused on Germany. Sweden is further shown to be a fruitful case study for considering the politicization of the late Enlightenment independently of the French Revolution. The French Revolution formed a key part of the political backdrop to the publication of the Dissertation, but its intellectual content was more indebted to the Scottish Enlightenment. Rosenstein’s pragmatic and contextual approach to politics is often explained away by the precarious climate after Gustav III’s assassination. Instead, this article shows that it is better understood as a style of thought which Rosenstein had in common with the leading thinkers of eighteenth-century Scotland. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03468755.2023.2187879
Intellectual History Review, 2023
The distinguished historian Steven Pincus has recently argued that “Patriotism” was a distinctive... more The distinguished historian Steven Pincus has recently argued that “Patriotism” was a distinctive ideology in the middle of the eighteenth century that indicated “governmental activism” and support for “the British way of governing, grounded in the principles set forth in England’s Revolution of 1688–89.” By contrast, this essay shows that “Patriot” was more commonly used as a generic term for opposition politicians in eighteenth-century Britain. Moreover, for much of the century, the term was frequently associated with a slightly more precise and substantial set of political arguments: those associated with the “Country party” platform. In its eighteenth-century guise, the Country party’s raison d’être was opposition to the growth of executive power since the Glorious Revolution. It was not a party as such but rather an opposition stance and a set of principles which occasionally brought together Tories, Whigs, and independent Country gentlemen as well as self-proclaimed Patriots. In the eighteenth century, “the Country” was especially scathing of the “financial revolution” and the growth of the fiscal-military state in the years after 1688–1689. By its continuous association with the Country party tradition, Patriotism and suspicion of the growth of executive power and government finance were intimately linked.
Journal of the History of Ideas, 2022
Gustav III's royal coup in 1772 reestablished strong monarchy and ended the Age of Liberty (Frihe... more Gustav III's royal coup in 1772 reestablished strong monarchy and ended the Age of Liberty (Frihetstiden) in Sweden. The event attracted much interest and commentary across Europe. The most detailed account of the episode and sophisticated analysis of its causes was Charles Francis Sheridan's now forgotten History of the Late Revolution in Sweden (1778). Sheridan used Enlightenment history and political science to argue that the reasons for the Swedish revolution went beyond its flawed constitution and could be traced to the Swedish national character and the circumstances of its orders, determined by its longue durée history, laws, geography, and climate.
Cosmos + Taxis: Studies in Emergent Order and Organization, 2022
This essay revisits Michael Oakeshott's classic critique of rationalism in politics and shows how... more This essay revisits Michael Oakeshott's classic critique of rationalism in politics and shows how it is relevant for his understanding of a specific notion of freedom which he associated with the English political tradition. Oakeshott was clear that English freedom must be understood contextually since it was not the same as German Freiheit or French liberté, both of which were related to ideological, purpose-oriented politics, including enlightened despotism, German Cameralism, French philosophes, fascism and socialism. By contrast, the English experience had revealed an economical method of government known as "the rule of law," which Oakeshott defined as "the enforcement by prescribed methods of settled rules binding alike on governors and governed." English freedom was thus characterized by a procedural way of approaching politics and an absence of overwhelming concentrations of power. By connecting Oakeshott's essays collected sixty years ago as Rationalism in Politics (1962) with his other works, we can see that the English tradition of freedom was related not only to the ways in which he understood the Whig, libertarian and conservative political traditions, but also to his famous notion of civil association (societas) as theorized in his magnum opus, On Human Conduct (1975). This essay argues in conclusion that Oakeshott's understanding of civil association and his criticisms of rationalism can just as easily be applied to the modern right as the modern left. https://cosmosandtaxis.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/skjonsberg_ct_vol10_iss7_8.pdf
Parliamentary History, 2021
Edmund Burke split dramatically with Charles James Fox and his Whig connection after the outbreak... more Edmund Burke split dramatically with Charles James Fox and his Whig connection after the outbreak of the French Revolution. In his Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs (1791), Burke contended that he had not abandoned his party's principles and that it was the Foxite Whigs who had morphed into a new party. The article demonstrates that while Burke believed that the French Revolution rendered old party battles irrelevant to an extent, he did not lose his confidence in the creed of his party as he understood it, nor in the idea of party as such, as the remaining years of his life demonstrate. Key members of the party stayed attached to the doctrine of party loyalty Burke had formulated, which meant that he was for some years a lone voice of dissent within the Whig camp. Eventually, however, many of the 'Old Whigs' became convinced of Burke's interpretation of events in France and their threat to Britain, and joined William Pitt the Younger in a coalition government in 1794, leaving Fox and a small rump in opposition. Several Whigs and Liberals in the 19th century rehabilitated Burke's reputation, but they regretted his split with Fox and many believed that he had become insane in the 1790s. However, this article concludes by suggesting that the position he took on the French Revolution in opposition to Fox and the Foxites may have helped rather than hindered the survival of Burkean Whiggism in the first decades of the 19th century.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1750-0206.12589
Political Thought and the Origins of the American Presidency, 2021
https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9780813066813
Library and Information History, 2021
This article explores the motivation of the founders of subscription libraries in the second half... more This article explores the motivation of the founders of subscription libraries in the second half of the eighteenth century through the case study of Richard Champion, a Dissenter from a commercial background who was deeply immersed in the political and associational life of Bristol. Having been denied the opportunity to study at university, in setting up the Bristol Library Society in 1772 Champion was driven by a desire to acquire educational opportunities through association, as well as an ambition to improve Bristol's reputation in the areas of arts and sciences. The library provided him with the political reading he needed to form close relationships with some of the leading politicians of the age, including Edmund Burke and the leaders of Burke's parliamentary party: the Marquess of Rockingham and the Duke of Portland. The case of Champion illustrates the various purposes of subscription libraries as well as their promise and potential in transforming the lives of the middling sort in Georgian Britain.
Scottish Historical Review, 2021
This article examines the connections between the Scottish Enlightenment thinker David Hume (1711... more This article examines the connections between the Scottish Enlightenment thinker David Hume (1711-76) and the Jacobites. Many of his friendships with Jacobites are known, but they have rarely been explored in detail, perhaps because they sit uneasily with the now dominant interpretation of Hume as a whig. While he was frequently accused of Jacobitism in his lifetime, this article does not seek to revive the myth that he was committed to the cause of the Stuarts at any stage of his life. However, his balanced treatment of Jacobitism indicates that we should dismiss entrenched dichotomies between enlightenment and progressive whiggism on the one hand, and nostalgic and conservative Jacobitism on the other. Despite his own lack of Jacobite commitments, the case of Hume shows that Jacobitism needs to be better integrated into Scottish enlightenment studies.
History of European Ideas, 2021
This article examines the connection, personal and intellectual, between David Hume and Edmund Bu... more This article examines the connection, personal and intellectual, between David Hume and Edmund Burke. Scholars have often compared the two thinkers, mainly in an unsystematic and selective way. Burke’s early biographers regarded them as opposite figures on account of Hume’s religious and philosophical scepticism and Burke’s devout Christian faith. By contrast, modern scholars often stress their intellectual kinship. More specifically, they have repeatedly attempted to place Hume and Burke either close together or far apart on a liberal-conservative spectrum. This article shows that an historical investigation into their personal and intellectual relationship is bound to challenge and complicate such endeavours. Besides an account of Hume’s and Burke’s acquaintance, the article discusses Burke’s engagement with Hume, and provides a comparison of key areas of their thought. It demonstrates that while Hume had something to offer Burke as a man of letters, in the 1750s and after 1790–1, Hume was less useful for Burke in the intermediate period when Burke was an active parliamentarian and Whig party member, especially since the mature Hume was so hostile to Burke’s brand of Whiggism.
Intellectual History Review, 2021
This review article considers new books by Karen Green on Catharine Macaulay (1731-91) alongside ... more This review article considers new books by Karen Green on Catharine Macaulay (1731-91) alongside Rachel Hammersley's introduction to the longue durée history of republicanism. The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay allows us to understand the historian and political writer in her own terms as opposed to a representative of a supposedly coherent commonwealth or republican tradition, as she has often been viewed since the work of Caroline Robbins and J. G. A. Pocock. Green's intellectual biography emphasises the religious nature of Macaulay's understanding of both republicanism and the Enlightenment. These publications can be beneficially read together with Hammersley's new book, which contends that republicanism has been a multifarious and contested concept from antiquity to the present day. The seventeenth-century commonwealth canon was constructed and made coherent by John Toland half a century after the English Revolution, and by Macaulay's friend Thomas Hollis in the middle decades of the eighteenth century. As Green's work reminds us, meanwhile, the natural law tradition of John Locke and Christian eudaimonism were as important as John Milton and James Harrington for Macaulay.
History: The Journal of the Historical Association, 2020
This article surveys the state of the field of the history of political thought. The premise of t... more This article surveys the state of the field of the history of political thought. The premise of the discipline is that political arguments and ideas have developed historically and thus have theoretical histories that can be located and traced. But, as our survey of the field shows, what counts as ‘context’ is up for debate, and contextual methods have become more sensitive to present‐day concerns. The border between the history of political thought and political theory is increasingly porous. We begin with some of the main claims and criticisms of the ‘Cambridge’ method of political thought, chiefly associated with Quentin Skinner, John Dunn and J. G. A. Pocock. We then consider newer developments, such as the ‘global turn’, which have steered the discipline beyond its traditionally European or male subject matter. While this shift in direction is welcome, we caution against a history that abstracts away from local sites of political contestation. Finally, we stress that (Western) historians moving beyond the West have even more reason to stay conscious of their own linguistic and cultural limitations.
Freedom of speech, 1500-1850 (Manchester University Press), 2020
History of Political Thought, 2019
This article examines Tory principles in the eighteenth century by focusing on that party's argum... more This article examines Tory principles in the eighteenth century by focusing on that party's arguments in the debates about the frequency of elections in 1716, when the duration of parliaments in Britain was extended from three to seven years. The Septennial Act (1716) was an epochal event and a crucial stage in the fortification of the Hanoverian regime and the supremacy of the Whigs in the eighteenth century. When protesting against this Act in the Lords and Commons, Tories resorted to arguments about the ancient constitution and fundamental law -- ideas which have more often been associated with Whiggism. In addition to its historical significance, the episode serves as a case study demonstrating the importance of studying the history of political thought together with political history.
History of European Ideas, 2019
For the Scottish Enlightenment thinker Adam Ferguson (1723–1816) and many of his time, the histor... more For the Scottish Enlightenment thinker Adam Ferguson (1723–1816) and many of his time, the history of the Roman Republic furnished the best case study for discussions of internal threats to a mixed system of government. These included factionalism, popular discontent, and the rise of demagogues seeking to concentrate power in their own hands. Ferguson has sometimes been interpreted as a ‘Machiavellian’ who celebrated the legacy of Rome and in particular the value of civic discord. By contrast, this article argues that he is better understood as a disciple of Montesquieu, who viewed Rome as an anachronistic and dangerous ideal in the eighteenth century, the era of the civilized and commercial monarchy. The greatest fear of Ferguson was military despotism, which he believed was the likely outcome of democratic chaos produced by the levelling instincts of the ‘common’ people and demagogues prepared to harness their discontent. In such a scenario, a legitimate order in a mixed government would be turned into a faction putting the constitutional balance at risk, undermining intermediary powers, and ending liberty for all.
Modern Intellectual History, 2019
Adam Ferguson has usually been portrayed as an advocate of conflict, political parties, and facti... more Adam Ferguson has usually been portrayed as an advocate of conflict, political parties, and factional strife. This article demonstrates that this is a rather unbalanced reading. A careful investigation of Ferguson's works and correspondence in context reveals a man deeply troubled by both turbulence and party politics. He consistently expressed fears of what he saw as the tumultuous populace, and the willingness of party leaders to rise on the shoulders of the mob. This could ultimately lead to military despotism, something he dreaded. While Ferguson's theory of antagonistic sociability was original, this article shows that we should not take for granted that it implied an approval of party conflict in a broad sense. Indeed, he was highly critical of opposition parties seeking to replace the government. He did tolerate a regulated form of contest between different orders in the state under a mixed constitution, but it is here argued that he is much better understood as a Christian Stoic promoting stability and order than a supporter of party struggle.
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Books by Max Skjönsberg
Edited Books by Max Skjönsberg
Articles and Chapters by Max Skjönsberg
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1750-0206.12589
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1750-0206.12589
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/john-wilkess-life-of-liberty-and-celebrity/