Jacobin (politics)
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A Jacobin was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary political movement that was the most famous political club during the French Revolution (1789–1799).
The club got its name from meeting at the Dominican rue Saint-Honoré Monastery of the Jacobins. The Dominicans in France were called Jacobins (Latin Jacobus corresponds to Jacques in French and James in English) because their first house in Paris was the Saint Jacques Monastery.
Today, the terms Jacobin and Jacobinism are used in a variety of senses. In France, Jacobin now generally indicates a supporter of a centralized republican state and strong central government powers and/or supporters of extensive government intervention to transform society. Jacobin is sometimes used in the United Kingdom as a pejorative for radical, left-wing revolutionary politics.
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