Bolzonar Catholicism and the Welfare State in Secular France

Continuities and Changes in the Catholic Mobilizations in the Social Policy Domain (1940-2017)
Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-94-6166-533-1
Verlag: Leuven University Press
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 224 Seiten

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.

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Autoren/Hrsg.

Bolzonar, Fabio

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Arbeit/Sozialpädagogik
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen Katholizismus, Römisch-Katholische Kirche

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

PART I
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Introduction

Catholicism and the Welfare State: Beyond Christian Democracy

Studying the Role of Catholicism in Social Policy Developments

Outline of the Book

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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

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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?

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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
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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

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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

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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?

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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

Über Autor(innen)

Bolzonar, Fabio
Fabio Bolzonar holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and a part-time lecturer at Waseda University, as well as a scientific collaborator at the Centre d’Étude de la Vie Politique at the Université Libre de Bruxelles.