a talk: “Understanding Class Divisions in Society: A Classical Liberal Approach”. A talk organised by the Adam Smith Centre and the School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, 20 Jan. 2020. [HTML<\/a>] and [PDF<\/a>] <\/li>\n <\/ul>\n See also the following blog posts:<\/p>\n
\n - \u201cThe Scandalous Neglect of Classical Liberal Sociology<\/a>\u201d (30 May, 2021)<\/li>\n
- James Mill on Politics and Class<\/a> (15 October, 2020)<\/li>\n <\/ol>\n
More detailed material:<\/p>\n
\n - Paper on “Plunderers, Parasites, and Plutocrats: Some Reflections on the Rise and Fall and Rise and Fall of Classical Liberal Class Analysis<\/a>” at the Libertarian Scholars Confrence in NYC 20 Oct. 2018.<\/li>\n
- The book I co-edited of a collection of classical texts in classical liberal and libertarian class analysis, Social Class and State Power: Exploring an Alternative Radical Tradition<\/em> (Palgrave Macmillan) is now out. See <http:\/\/www.palgrave.com\/us\/book\/9783319648934<\/a>> for details. <\/li>\n
- an anthology on the history of classical liberal class analysis: “Plunderers, Parasites, and Plutocrats: An Anthology of Classical Liberal Writing on Class Analysis from Bo\u00e9tie to Buchanan.”<\/a> A collection of 65 key texts on this topic. [an experimental iframe version<\/a>] <\/li>\n
- I wrote the Lead Essay on \u201cClassical Liberalism and the Problem of Class<\/a>\u201d for an online discussion at Liberty Matters<\/em> (Nov. 2016)<\/li>\n
- “Bastiat\u2019s Theory of Class: The Plunderers vs. the Plundered.\u201d<\/a> This is the Introductory Essay for a bi-lingual edition of Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat’s writings on class and plunder<\/li>\n
- a lecture on “The State and the Ruling Class<\/a>” with some accompanying diagrams on the schematic of class rule<\/a> and class structure<\/a><\/li>\n
- A bibliography on Class and the State<\/a><\/li>\n
- a selection of quotations<\/a> about class<\/li>\n
- images of “The Ruled as Atlas<\/a>” and “Images of the Ruling Class and the State<\/a>” <\/li>\n <\/ul><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CatosLetters1_TP450-175x300.jpg\") <\/td>\n | John Trenchard (1662-1723) and Thomas Gordon (1691\u20131750)<\/h4>\n In the modern era two early users of CLCA were the English “Commonwealthmen” John Trenchard (1662-1723)<\/a> and Thomas Gordon (1691\u20131750)<\/a> whose pamphlets and journalism were influential in bringing these ideas to the colonists in North America in the decades leading up to the American Revolution. They turned to Roman history to criticize the practices of the British state after the settlement of 1688 brought William of Orange to the throne. In their Cato\u2019s Letters<\/em> (1721-23) the landed, financial, and military aristocracies (the oligrachy) which were the foundation stone of the expanding British Empire were likened to the tyrants of ancient Rome and their court of \u201changers-on\u201d. The King\u2019s ministers were corrupt, \u201cfactions\u201d and \u201cparties\u201d within the court contended for power (the \u201cIns\u201d vs. the \u201cOuts\u201d), the court parasites plundered the people, and a standing army kept them and the colonies under control. It was the journalism of Trenchard and Gordon which brought this notion of class to the English colonists in North America who readily adopted it as part of their critique of the British Empire, seeing their struggle very much as a tax revolt by the tax-payers in the colonies against the tax-consumers of the metropole. We have online:<\/p>\n\n\n- John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, Letters on Liberty and Power: An Anthology of Essays from The Independent Whig (1720-21) and Cato’s Letters (1720-23)<\/em> (2025). [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n\n
- Thomas Gordon, Tyranny, Empire, War, and Corruption: The Political Discourses on Tacitus and Sallust (1728-1744)<\/em> (2021) [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n\n
\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TMS1_TP450.jpg\") <\/td>\n | Adam Smith (1723-1790)<\/h4>\n Smith\u2019s<\/a> thinking about class was largely implicit in that he accepted the general Enlightened idea that history evolved through various economic stages (namely, the stages of hunting, pasturing, agriculture, and commerce) which he expressed in his Lectures on Jurisprudence<\/em> (1762, 1766), that societies were structured according to one\u2019s rank and order each of which had their own \u201cpowers, privileges, and immunities\u201d, which he discussed in Theory of Moral Sentiments<\/em> (1759, 1790), and that a complex \u201csystem of government\u201d in which “factions” competed against each other for access to power and the benefits power brought, had emerged under mercantilism which granted legal and economic privileges to some manufacturers, slave-owners, and agricultural producers at the expence of other consumers and producers, in The Wealth of Nations<\/em> (1776).<\/p>\n\nOn Smith and class, see:<\/p>\n \n - \u201cSmith on the \u2018Great System of Government\u2019 and its Political Machine,\u201d in Adam Smith and why he matters today. Essays on the relevance of Smith after 300 years. Paul Oslington and David M. Hart. With a Foreword by Peter Kurti<\/em> (CIS Occasional Paper 199. December 2023), pp. 8-15. Online at the CIS<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- \u201cPutting the \u2018Political\u2019 back into Adam Smith\u2019s Political Economy: Smith on Power and Privilege, Faction and Fanaticism, and Corruption and Conspiracies\u201d. A paper given at the History of Economic Thought Society of Australia conference (20 Sept. 2023) held at the University of Canberra. [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n\n
- \u201cVocabulary Clusters in the Thought of Adam Smith: Smith\u2019s Theory of Ranks, Class, and Government\u201d. Written to accompany my paper on this topic. In [HTML<\/a>] and also in [PDF<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n
- An Anthology of Adam Smith\u2019s writings on Class and the State<\/em>. A collection of 73 extracts from Smith\u2019s writings to accompany my paper on this topic. The items come from AS\u2019s three main works \u2013 TMS (1759, 1790) \u2013 41 items, LJ (1763 and 1766) \u2013 8 items, and WN (1776) \u2013 24 items: Adam Smith on Class and the State: An Anthology. Edited by David M. Hart<\/em> (Sydney: Pittwater Free Press, 2023). In [HTML<\/a>] and [PDF<\/a>].<\/li>\n <\/ul><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Supp_Encyclopaedia_Britannica2_TP_450.jpg\") <\/td>\n | James Mill (1773-1836)<\/h4>\n The Philosophic radical James Mill<\/a> made a distinction between \u201cceux qui pillent” (those who pillage) or \u201cthe ruling Few\u201d and \u201cceux qui sont pill\u00e9s\u201d (those who are pillaged) or \u201cthe subject Many\u201d. The former were a \u201csinister interest\u201d which controlled the British government for their own selfish purposes. The governing Few\u2019s control of the government both at home and abroad created what Mill described as \u201ca vicious government\u201d which ruthlessly sacrificed the interests of the many to the \u201csinister interests\u201d of a small minority. Thus, Mill came to view politics as a struggle between these two classes.<\/p>\n Mill’s works in which which class and exploitation is discussed:<\/p>\n \n - James Mill, Twelve Essays in the Supplement to the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica<\/em> (Edinburgh, Archibald Constable and Company, 1824). Especially his entries on “Caste,” “Colony”, and “Government”. [HTML<\/a>].<\/li>\n
- James Mill, An Anthology of Essays written for the Reviews (1815-1836). Edited by David M. Hart<\/em> (The Pittwater Free Press, 2020). Especially his essays on \u201cEcclesiastical Establishments\u201d (Apr. 1826), \u201cState of the Nation\u201d (Apr. 1835), and \u201cAristocracy\u201d (Jan. 1836). [HTML<\/a>].<\/li>\n <\/ul><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n\n
\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Dunoyer_IndustrieMorale_TP450.jpg\") <\/td>\n | Charles Comte (1782-1837) and Charles Dunoyer (1786-1862)<\/h4>\nUnder the influence of the writings of Jean-Baptiste Say the French lawyers and journalists Comte<\/a> and Dunoyer<\/a> added to their political and constitutional opposition to Napoleon and the restored Bourbon monarchy a new economically and sociologically informed opposition based upon their theory of class rule and exploitation of the “industrial class” of peaceful producers by a parasitic non-producing aristocratic, political, and military class. In the journals Le Censeur<\/em> (1814-1815) and Le Censeur europ\u00e9en<\/em> (1817-1819) and then in a series of books they published during the 1820s and 1830s they developed these ideas into a detailed “industrialist” theory of history and class which had a great influence on later writers like Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat and Gustave de Molinari.<\/p>\n\nOn Comte and Dunoyer see:<\/p>\n\n \n- my biographical entries in The Encylopedia of Libertarianism<\/em> (Cato Institute, 2008) \u2013 Comte [HTML<\/a>] and Dunoyer [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n
- My PHD: Class Analysis, Slavery and the Industrialist Theory of History in French Liberal Thought, 1814-1830: The Radical Liberalism of Charles Comte and Charles Dunoyer<\/em> (1994, 2013) [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n
- Mark Weinburg, “The Social Analysis of three early nineteenth century French liberals: Say, Comte, and Dunoyer,” Journal of Libertarian Studies<\/em>, 1978, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 45-63.<\/li>\n
- \u00c9phra\u00efm Harpaz, Le Censeur. Le Censeur europ\u00e9en. Histoire d’un Journal lib\u00e9ral et industrialiste<\/em> (Gen\u00e8ve: Slatkine Reprints, 2000).<\/li>\n
- Robert Leroux, Aux fondements de l’industrialisme : Comte, Dunoyer et la pens\u00e9e lib\u00e9rale en France<\/em> (Paris: Editions Hermann, 2015).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
Their main works:<\/p>\n\n \n- An Anthology of Articles from Le Censeur (1814-1815) and Le Censeur europ\u00e9en (1817-1819)<\/em>. French [HTML<\/a>] and English [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n
- Charles Dunoyer, L\u2019Industrie et la morale consid\u00e9r\u00e9es dans leurs rapports avec la libert\u00e9<\/em> (Paris: A. Sautelet et Cie, 1825). [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n
- Charles Dunoyer, Nouveau trait\u00e9 d\u2019\u00e9conomie sociale<\/em> (Paris: Sautelet et Mesnier, 1830). 2 vols. [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n
- Charles Comte, Trait\u00e9 de l\u00e9gislation les peuples prosp\u00e8rent, d\u00e9p\u00e9rissent ou restent stationnaire<\/em> (Paris: A. Sautelet et Cie, 1826-27). Four volumes. [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n
- Charles Comte, Trait\u00e9 de la Propri\u00e9t\u00e9.<\/em> (Paris: Chamerot, 1834)). 2 vols. [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Wade_1835BlackBook-colour_TP450-179x300.jpg\") <\/td>\n | John Wade (1788-1875)<\/h4>\n Like James Mill the English radical John Wade<\/a> was influenced by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) concerning the endemic corruption within the British state. He meticulously documented the money amount of this corruption in the form of salaries, pensions, grants, privileges and other payments and benefits paid unnually to the government, the Church, the royal family, the military, the courts, and many others who constituted the ruling elite in his best-selling book The Black Book<\/em> (later called the “Extraordinary” Black Book) which was published in many editions between 1820 and 1835. The full title of the first edition of 1820 describes clearly his purpose:<\/p>\n\n\n The Black Book; or, Corruption Unmasked! Being an Account of Places, Pensions, and Sinecures, the Revenues of the Clergy and Landed Aristocracy; the Salaries and Emoluments in Courts of Justice and the Police Department; the Expenditure of the Civil List; the Amount and Application of the Droits of the Crown and Admiralty; the Robbery of Charitable Foundations; the Profits of the Bank of England, arising from the Issue of its Notes, Balances of Public Money, Management of the Borough Debt, and other Sources of Emolument; the Debt, Revenue, and Influence of the East-India Company; the State of the Finances, Debt, and Sinking Fund. To which is added Correct Lists of both Houses of Parliament; showing their Family Connections, Parliamentary Influence, the Places and Pensions held by themselves or Relations; distinguishing also those who voted against Catholic Emancipation, and for the Seditious Meeting and Press-Restriction Bills: the whole forming a complete Exposition of the Cost, Influence, Patronage, and Corruption of the Borough Government<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n I have put online the expanded 4th edition of 1835 along with its Appendix: <\/p>\n\n \n- John Wade, The Black Book: An Exposition of Abuses in Church and State, Courts of Law, Municipal Corporations, and Public Companies … <\/em> (London, 1835) [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n
- John Wade, Appendix to the Black Book: An Exposition of the Principles and Practices of the Reform Ministry and Parliament: the Church and the Dissenters; Catastrophe of The House of Lords; and Prospects of Tory Misrule …<\/em> (London, 1835) [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n
\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1850_Propriete_et_spoliation_TP200.jpg\") <\/td>\n | \n \n Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat (1801-1850)<\/h4>\n Much influenced by Comte and Dunoyer’s writings Bastiat<\/a> distinguished between \u201cla classe spoliatrice\u201d (the plundering class) and \u201cles classes spoli\u00e9es\u201d (the plundered classes). He applied this analysis to his critique of protection first to the English system in his “Introduction” to Cobden and the League<\/em> (1845) and then to the French system in a series of works beginning with Economic Sophisms<\/em> (1846, 1848) and which culminated in his long pamphlet on La Loi<\/em> (The Law) (1850). He did not live to complete his projected “History of Plunder” but its outlines can be pieced together from the many things he did write on this matter. See in particular my Introduction to an anthology of his essays on Plunder.<\/p>\n\nSee my papers:<\/p>\n\n \n- \u201cFr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat on Plunder, Class, and the State\u201d (2021). This essay was written to accompany an anthology of Bastiat\u2019s writings on plunder, class, and the state. [HTML<\/a>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
Bastiat’s works in which which class and expoloitation is discussed:<\/p>\n\n \n- Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat, “Introduction” to Cobden and the League<\/em> (1845)\n
\n - French: French: Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat, Cobden et la ligue, ou l\u2019Agitation anglaise pour la libert\u00e9 du commerce (Paris: Guillaumin, 1845). [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n
- English: Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat, “Introduction” to Cobden and the League, or the English Movement for the Liberty of Commerce. Translated and with Notes by David M. Hart (The Pittwater Free Press, 2025). [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- La Loi<\/em> (The Law) (1850)\n
\n - French: La Loi. Par M. F. Bastiat. Membre correspondent de l’Institut. repr\u00e9sentant du peuple a l’assembl\u00e9e nationale. (Paris: Librairie de Guillaumin et C ie, 1850). [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n
- English: Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat, The Law: The Students Edition. Translated, edited, and with Notes by David M. Hart (The Pittwater Free Press, 2025). [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- An Anthology of Writings by Bastiat on Plunder, Class, and the State.<\/em> An anthology of 13 items on the topic of plunder and class analysis with a lengthy introduction by me:\n
\n - French: Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat, La Spoliation, la Classe, et l\u2019\u00c9tat (Plunder, Class, and State): An Anthology of Texts (1845-1851). Edited and with an Introduction by David M. Hart<\/em> (The Pittwater Free Press, 2023). [HTML<\/a>]<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n\n
\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Molinari_1880EvolutionEconomique_TP200.jpg\") <\/td>\n | Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912)<\/h4>\n As a young journalist in Paris Molinari<\/a> first developed his ideas about class and exploitation in his writings on tariffs (1847) in which he described the beneficiaries of tariffs as being no better than so many “bandits” who waylaid travellers in the remote hills of Italy. He developed his ideas further in a series of entries in the Dictionnaire de l’\u00e9conomie politique<\/em> (1852-53) in which he expanded his analysis to include the emergence of coerced labour under slavery, feudalism, and the rise to power of the nobility. He would later write several long books on the rise of the modern state, the mechanisms it used to exploit the productive classes, the ruling class and its allies as “les mangeurs des taxes” (tax-eaters), the role war played in the evolution of the state, how the ruling class used the state as a kind of profit making “firm”, and how in the future societies will gradually move towards free competition in all areas of activity including all so-called “public goods”, even the provision of police and defence services.<\/p>\n\nSee my papers:<\/p>\n | | | | | | |
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