Bankrupts in the Shadows of the ‘Belle Epoque’. Coping with the Failure ; coping with the Shame. Belgium, 1896-1914

In Western Europe, the years 1896-1914 were characterized by a sustained economic growth accompanied by a significant improvement in social conditions. In the shadows of this "Belle Epoque", but often in direct connection with the transformations it bore, bankruptcy still remained a threat to many companies, starting with the smallest ones. This study examines these bankrupts, usually from the petty bourgeoisie, who found themselves bankrupt, i.e. as a person "who ceases his payments and who is no longer creditworthy " . Beyond the judicial procedure and its effects on the business of the bankrupt, bankruptcy is also acutely felt as a personal, family and social failure. The bankrupt is at the center of the scandal of his own bankruptcy, and often threatened by poverty and social downgrading. The bankruptcy petition – or the discovery of the insolvency by the commercial court - constitutes a turning point in the life of this person and his family, characterized by a shift in the emotional register of shame. This research, through a microhistorical approach, proposes to consider how the shame of bankruptcy was experienced and endured by some 21 bankrupts, their relatives and their descendants. The proposed framework is that of a medium-sized provincial town, Namur.