Throughout the Second Empire, Napoléon III and his Prefect of the Seine, Georges Haussmann, engaged in a series of urban reform projects that transformed Paris. These projects, often collectively referred to as Haussmannization, entailed the construction of boulevards, expansion of the sewer system, and clearance of what the state considered insalubrious housing. This term was largely prescribed to worker-class housing and used as a medical justification to target and destroy working-class communities. However, as this paper discusses, the understanding of insalubrity was shaped by hygienists' pathologization of poverty, crime, and working-class militancy in response to the arrival of cholera and the increase in working-class unrest during the July Monarchy. Hygienists hypothesized that these issues stemmed from workers' moral degeneration and constituted public health crises due to their allegedly contagious nature. In framing these issues as public health crises, hygienists advocated for state intervention to regulate these workers. Leveraging hygienists' rhetoric, Napoléon III justified his destruction of working-class communities as a measure to improve public health while decreasing workers’ potential social and political power. This thesis adds to current literature that suggests Haussmannization aimed to consolidate control over workers by eradicating working-class spaces and elaborates on public health’s role in legitimizing Napoléon III’s marginalization of workers.
","abstract_html":"<p>Throughout the Second Empire, Napoléon III and his Prefect of the Seine, Georges Haussmann, engaged in a series of urban reform projects that transformed Paris. These projects, often collectively referred to as Haussmannization, entailed the construction of boulevards, expansion of the sewer system, and clearance of what the state considered insalubrious housing. This term was largely prescribed to worker-class housing and used as a medical justification to target and destroy working-class communities. However, as this paper discusses, the understanding of insalubrity was shaped by hygienists' pathologization of poverty, crime, and working-class militancy in response to the arrival of cholera and the increase in working-class unrest during the July Monarchy. Hygienists hypothesized that these issues stemmed from workers' moral degeneration and constituted public health crises due to their allegedly contagious nature. In framing these issues as public health crises, hygienists advocated for state intervention to regulate these workers. Leveraging hygienists' rhetoric, Napoléon III justified his destruction of working-class communities as a measure to improve public health while decreasing workers’ potential social and political power. This thesis adds to current literature that suggests Haussmannization aimed to consolidate control over workers by eradicating working-class spaces and elaborates on public health’s role in legitimizing Napoléon III’s marginalization of workers.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Malsy, Mikaela"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"History, MA","degree_level":"Open Access Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"School of Arts and Humanities","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Andre Wakefield"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:40:15Z","subjects":["Haussmannization","Second Empire","Napoléon III","Haussmann","Georges","Pathologization","Workers","Public health crises","European History","History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/548","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Andre Wakefield"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Malsy, Mikaela"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-10-23T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["School of Arts and Humanities"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["History, MA"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Haussmannization","Second Empire","Napoléon III","Haussmann","Georges","Pathologization","Workers","Public health crises","European History","History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/548"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Throughout the Second Empire, Napoléon III and his Prefect of the Seine, Georges Haussmann, engaged in a series of urban reform projects that transformed Paris. These projects, often collectively referred to as Haussmannization, entailed the construction of boulevards, expansion of the sewer system, and clearance of what the state considered insalubrious housing. This term was largely prescribed to worker-class housing and used as a medical justification to target and destroy working-class communities. However, as this paper discusses, the understanding of insalubrity was shaped by hygienists' pathologization of poverty, crime, and working-class militancy in response to the arrival of cholera and the increase in working-class unrest during the July Monarchy. Hygienists hypothesized that these issues stemmed from workers' moral degeneration and constituted public health crises due to their allegedly contagious nature. In framing these issues as public health crises, hygienists advocated for state intervention to regulate these workers. Leveraging hygienists' rhetoric, Napoléon III justified his destruction of working-class communities as a measure to improve public health while decreasing workers’ potential social and political power. This thesis adds to current literature that suggests Haussmannization aimed to consolidate control over workers by eradicating working-class spaces and elaborates on public health’s role in legitimizing Napoléon III’s marginalization of workers.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Public Health and the Politics of Haussmannization in Nineteenth-Century Paris, 1830-1870"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Andre Wakefield"],"dc:creator":["Malsy, Mikaela"],"dc:date.available":["2023-10-23T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Throughout the Second Empire, Napoléon III and his Prefect of the Seine, Georges Haussmann, engaged in a series of urban reform projects that transformed Paris. These projects, often collectively referred to as Haussmannization, entailed the construction of boulevards, expansion of the sewer system, and clearance of what the state considered insalubrious housing. This term was largely prescribed to worker-class housing and used as a medical justification to target and destroy working-class communities. However, as this paper discusses, the understanding of insalubrity was shaped by hygienists' pathologization of poverty, crime, and working-class militancy in response to the arrival of cholera and the increase in working-class unrest during the July Monarchy. Hygienists hypothesized that these issues stemmed from workers' moral degeneration and constituted public health crises due to their allegedly contagious nature. In framing these issues as public health crises, hygienists advocated for state intervention to regulate these workers. Leveraging hygienists' rhetoric, Napoléon III justified his destruction of working-class communities as a measure to improve public health while decreasing workers’ potential social and political power. This thesis adds to current literature that suggests Haussmannization aimed to consolidate control over workers by eradicating working-class spaces and elaborates on public health’s role in legitimizing Napoléon III’s marginalization of workers.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/548"],"dc:subject":["Haussmannization","Second Empire","Napoléon III","Haussmann","Georges","Pathologization","Workers","Public health crises","European History","History"],"dc:title":["Public Health and the Politics of Haussmannization in Nineteenth-Century Paris, 1830-1870"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["School of Arts and Humanities"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["History, MA"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:40:15Z"}