Debating societies [ Clubs & Societies / Associational culture ]
… Public sphere Debating societies were commercial ventures that provided the middling and lower orders with arenas of sociability where a broad range of subjects, both frivolous and serious (moral, social, political, economic, religious, … a quarter of its gross income to charity. Though no formal rule excluded women, their absence and a boisterous all-male sociability were hallmarks of the Robin Hood Society. The society had a reputation for political radicalism in the 1760s …
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