ABSTRACT
Populationism is often judged a key component of cameralism. Comparison is not. This chapter proposes that the conjuncture of the two reveals a neglected strand of intercultural analysis forged in the transnational setting of European Enlightenment, in which Central European questions of state intersected with Montesquian method. Ironically, JHG Justi, leader of what has often been judged a provincial, inward-looking German “tribe of authoritarian rationalists”, put forth what Jürgen Osterhammel described as a “fundamental critique of Eurocentrism”. The chapter begins by using the lens of populationism to make sense of Justi’s openness to absolutist foreign models such as China and the Inca. It then situates Justi’s global horizons alongside the more regional comparative horizons of his fellow Cameralist university chair holders, using discussion of immigration to indicate how Cameralist thinkers held in common a commitment to practical comparison. The chapter suggests how study of cameralist comparison can enrich our understanding of the science of man beyond France and Scotland, and how cameralism marked an important moment in the complex and pained history of the governance of diversity and ethnic difference in Europe.
