Catholicism and the Welfare State in Secular France: Continuities and Changes in the Catholic Mobilizations in the Social Policy Domain (1940-2017)

This book investigates the changing influence of Catholicism on French social protection from World War II to the mid-2010s, discussing the factors that have favored or inhibited it and the hybridization between Catholic values and secular principles in the social engagement of Catholic actors in secular France. Catholic mobilization has relocated from the political to the civil society sphere, making voluntary organizations and social movements the main channels for defending Catholic values. Bolzonar identifies two divergent scenarios for Catholic social engagement in contemporary France: either the strengthening of new forms of institutional collaboration or the emergence of new ideological conflicts.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 28 September 2023
Publisher: Leuven University Press

The influence of Catholicism on developments in French social protection from World War II to the mid-2010s is a topic that has received limited attention in existing scholarship. In his book, Fabio Bolzonar investigates the changing influence of Catholicism on this field, discussing the factors that have favoured or inhibited its impact and exploring the hybridization between Catholic values and secular principles in the social engagement of Catholic actors in secular France.

Bolzonar's 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, with 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 the main channels for defending Catholic values in secular France. 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).

Weight: 490g
Dimension: 238 x 170 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789462703889