Il controverso cammino verso la reciprocità: pratica diplomatica e riflessione economica nella Francia d’Ancien Régime

Starting in the 1750s France witnessed a growing use of the concept of reciprocity (reciprocité). This essay describes the intellectual and political contexts within which the call for the establishment of horizontal interstate relations, that is relations based on a respect for reciprocity in matters of custom tariffs and navigation rights, was made. In the hope that France might emulate the economic success of Britain, a group of intellectuals, administrators, diplomats—among whom Daniel Trudaine, Véron de Forbonnais and Dupont became particularly prominent—challenged the practice of subordinating commercial interests to dynastic ones, and used the concept of reciprocity to renew both diplomatic and administrative practices. In fact, the campaign to obtain conditions of real reciprocity in the sphere of international trade was associated with a plan for the reform of the French economy that required horizontal social relations, in other words ones based on mutual recognition rather than subordination.