Culture and the State

From the end of the eighteenth century to the late nineteenth century, a remarkable convergence took place in Europe between theories of the modern state and theories of culture. Culture and the State explores that theoretical convergence in relation to the social functions of state and cultural institutions, showing how cultural education comes to play the role of forming citizens for the modern state. The book records the history of working class resistance to the emergence of state educational institutions and the gradual acceptance of them by working class movements later in the century. Rather than subscribe to the notion of culture as an autonomous domain, the book pursues its shifting involvement with state projects through the nineteenth century.