「世界的公民」：不列顛反穀物法聯盟的國際視野與政治改革（1830-1860s）

Abstract

本研究以 19 世紀中葉，不列顛的「反穀物法聯盟」(Anti-Corn Law League) 為研究對象，探討該組織在推動廢除《穀物法》與政治改革的過程中，如何闡述其國際視野，並將不列顛的國內議題置於更廣泛的國際政治經濟變遷之中。1830 年代後期，不列顛面臨經濟蕭條、糧食短缺與社會動盪，促使激進自由主義者與中產階級組成聯盟，以對抗政府的保護主義政策。然而，聯盟的改革訴求 並未侷限於國內的經濟利益，而是運用「世界的公民」之概念，結合自由貿易、和平理念與宗教倫理，嘗試描繪一個新世界秩序的藍圖。本文認為，對既有世界的剖析，正是聯盟嘗試建立理想世界的基礎。

本文以聯盟官方刊物《反穀物法週刊》(Anti-Corn-Law Circular)、《反麵包稅週刊》(Anti-Bread-Tax Circular)與《聯盟報》(League)為主要史料，輔以成員 演講、書信、遊記、請願書與選舉文宣，重建聯盟如何理解並比較法國、美國、德意志、俄羅斯與中國的政治經濟情勢，及其如何將這些觀察融入至改革論述與行動策略。研究結果顯示，聯盟並未將「世界」理解為一個抽象且同質的整體，而是依據不同國家的特殊脈絡與發展軌跡，調整其動員策略與倡議重點。同時， 聯盟亦運用跨國比較來批判不列顛自身制度的缺陷，並嘗試與他國的自由貿易支持者建立合作網絡，以擴大其影響力。

本研究指出，聯盟的國際視野不僅是一種觀看世界的方式，更是服務於政治改革的工具。透過將自由貿易與和平主義理想嵌入其對國際局勢的分析之中，聯盟得以強化反對《穀物法》的正當性，並為重塑不列顛在新世界秩序中的角色提供論述資源。這些研究發現有助於重新評估十九世紀改革運動的跨國面向，並闡明聯盟如何在國際政治經濟變動的脈絡下，將國際觀察用於其政治改革行動之中。

This study examines the mid-nineteenth-century British Anti-Corn Law League, investigating how the organization articulated its international perspective while campaigning for political reform and the repeal of the Corn Laws and situating British issues within broader transformations of the international political economy. In the late 1830s, Britain faced economic depression, food shortages, and social unrest, prompting radical liberals and middle-class activists to organize the League in opposition to governmental protectionist policies. The League transcended purely domestic concerns by using the conception of ‘a citizen of the world’, integrating free trade, pacifism, and religious ethics into a blueprint for a new world order. This article argues that the Leaguers’ analysis of the existing world provided the necessary foundation for its attempt to construct an ideal one.

Drawing primarily on the League’s official publications—the Anti-Corn-Law Circular, the Anti-Bread-Tax Circular, and the League—as well as members’ speeches, correspondence, travel writings, petitions, and electoral materials, this article reconstructs how the League interpreted and compared the political and economic conditions of France, the United States, the German states, Russia, and China, and how these observations were translated into reformist discourse and political strategies. The findings demonstrate that the League did not conceive “the world” as an abstract and homogeneous entity. Rather, it adapted its strategies and advocacy to the distinct contexts and developmental trajectories of different countries. Simultaneously, the League employed transnational comparisons to criticize deficiencies in Britain’s own institutions and sought to establish cooperative networks with free traders in foreign countries to expand its influence.

This study demonstrates that the League’s international perspective functioned not merely as a way of observing the world, but as an instrument serving political reform. By embedding free trade and pacifist ideals within its analysis of international affairs, the League was able to strengthen the legitimacy of its opposition to the Corn Laws and to generate discursive resources for reshaping Britain’s role in a new world order. These findings contribute to a reassessment of the transnational dimensions of nineteenth-century reform movements and illuminate how the League deployed its international perspective in reform campaigns amid international political and economic dynamics.