For a Critic Epistemology of Socio-political Experience: French Workers’ Speech in 1930s and E. P. Thompson’s Perspective

Abstract

The essay starts from the worker’s speech appeared in France during the 1830s by reading a Parisian printer’s «response» to an article on Canuts revolt in Lyon. The aim is that of using this speech in order to suggest an epistemology which reflects on the way in which critical thought should be informed by socio-political experiences. The reference of such an epistemology is E. P. Thompson. In fact, the essay considers the British historian’s perspective as an overcoming of the unilateral accent that the contemporary critical thought, notably Honneth’s emphasis on the socio-cultural characteristics and Rancière’s reflections on the political-enunciative aspects.