This dictionary allows the discovery of forgotten painters from the north of France and contributes to the knowledge of the specificities of regional art and the history of Lille and its surroundings.

In addition to highlighting recent socio-spatial transformations of (sub)urban spaces in Northern France through (de)industrialization, discrimination and poverty, this book provides original conceptual framework and tools for thinking about social change in a wide variety of contexts.

The use of concepts and methods from modern economic analysis makes it possible to enrich historical research by providing, in the case of eighteenth-century Lille, precise answers to such essential questions as the impact of the budgetary and fiscal policies adopted by municipal officials.