“The child is the interpreter of the people. What am I saying? He is the people itself, in its native truth, before it is deformed, the people without vulgarity, without rudeness, without envy, inspiring neither defiance nor repulsion.” Michelet’s words can make us smile, but when we speak of popular (language) or of populist (discourse), isn’t there a kind of defiance and repulsion there?
The plan for this book grew out of our anxiety at seeing the word “people” hopelessly joined with the group of words like “republic” or “secularism,” whose meanings have evolved to serve to maintain the order. Despite their diversity, what the texts brought together here have in common is demonstrating that people remains solidly rooted on the side of emancipation.