Catholicism and the Welfare State in Secular France

Secular France and the changing influence of Catholicism.

Even though the policy impact of Catholicism has increasingly been acknowledged, existing scholarship lacks a coherent view on its changing influence over time and in different political contexts. In this book, Fabio Bolzonar investigates the influence of Catholicism on developments in French social protection from World War II to the mid-2010s. He discusses the factors that have favoured or inhibited it and explores the hybridization between Catholic values and secular principles in the social engagement of Catholic actors in secular France. By doing so, this multidisciplinary study integrates current scholarship, which has given limited attention to the changing patterns of Catholic involvement in the social policy domain over a long period of time, and the renewed influence of Catholic values in secularized societies. Catholic mobilization has relocated from the political to the civil society sphere, making voluntary organizations and social movements, rather than political parties, the main channels for defending Catholic values in secular France. Rather than marginalizing Catholicism, this process has opened up new opportunities for Catholic actors and values to play a significant role in society and politics. Bolzonar identifies two divergent scenarios that define Catholic social engagement in contemporary France: either the strengthening of new forms of institutional collaboration between Catholic-inspired philanthropic organizations and public administrations in the interest of socially vulnerable citizens, or the emergence of new ideological conflicts on gender- and sexuality-related issues.

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

Preface

PART I

1. Introduction
   Catholicism and the Welfare State: Beyond Christian Democracy
   Studying the Role of Catholicism in Social Policy Developments
   Outline of the Book

2. Catholicism and the Welfare State in a Reactionary Regime (1940-1944)
   Catholicism and Politics in Vichy France
   Social Policies during the Vichy Regime
   The Expansion of Social Protection
   The Reorganization of Public Hospitals
   An Authoritarian Corporatist Reform 45 A Legacy for Post-war Reformers

3. Foundation and Consolidation of a Christian Democratic Welfare State (1944-1959)
   The Roots of Christian Democratic Social Reformism
   Foundation and Development of a Christian Democratic Welfare State
   The New Institutional Organization of Social Security
   Family Policies
   Housing Policies
   A Christian Democratic Welfare State?

4. Catholicism in the Years of Gaullism and Mitterrandism (1959-1995)
   The Social Reforms of Gaullist and Right-wing Governments
   The Reform of 1967 78 Family Policies under the Right in Power
   Moral Liberalization of Social Legislation
   Decline of Family Benefits
   Support for Larger Families
   Support for Working Mothers
   The Mitterrand Years 88 Renovating the Démocratie Sociale
   Modernizing Family Policies
   Moral Liberalization of Family Legislation
   Increasing Family Benefits
   Support for Smaller Families
   Promotion of Work-family Reconciliation Policies
   Great Disillusions?

PART II

1. A Period of Changes
   Catholicism in Contemporary France: Some Observations
   Weakening Values?
   A Church in Decline?
   Do Catholic Values Still Play a Role in French Politics?
   Catholicism and Civil Society
   Entering a Post-secular Era: Secularization, Civic Engagement, and New Social Mobilization

2. Social Catholicism in an Age of Permanent Austerity
   Housing Policies and Social Catholicism
   Early and Contradictory Developments
   Increasing Activism
   Toward a New Alliance?
   Evaluating Values in Action

3. New Ideological Conflicts?
   Against Same-sex Marriage
   Troubles in the Church
   The Political Support for the Anti-gay Marriage Campaign
   The Opposition of Civil Society
   Influence on Policy Outcomes
   Abortion: A Still Open Question
   New Ideological Conflicts?

4. A Contribution to a Theory on the Mobilization of Catholicism in Secular Societies
   Continuities and Changes in a Long Story
   A Way Ahead
   Concluding Remarks

Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index of Persons
Colophon

Format: Monograph - paperback

Size: 238 × 170 × 15 mm

224 pages

ISBN: 9789462703889

Publication: September 28, 2023

Series: KADOC-Studies on Religion, Culture and Society 31

Languages: English

Stock item number: 156628