Socialisation religieuse et comportement électoral en France. L'affaire des « catéchismes augmentées » (19e-20e siècles) - article ; n°2 ; vol.52, pg 179-199

Revue française de science politique - Année 2002 - Volume 52 - Numéro 2 - Pages 179-199
Les sources de cette enquête sont un ensemble de textes cléricaux (lettres pastorales, Semaines religieuses, catéchismes, prières, manuels de l'électeur catholique, presse, etc.) concourant à dessiner les frontières et le contenu de la citoyenneté telle que l'enseignent les catholiques fran­çais du 19e siècle à l'entre-deux-guerres. Il s'agit d'étudier les mécanismes sociaux de diffusion des normes civiques catholiques et d'apprécier les conditions culturelles et sociales de validité de celles-ci. Il s'agit aussi d'évaluer la contribution de l'Église catholique à la politisation de la société française, d'apprécier son concours à la définition d'un répertoire d'action politique en affinité avec l'éthique catholique, de retracer enfin l'évolution historique de ce travail de socialisation politique (tant primaire que secondaire). Ce travail d'inculcation d'une vision religieuse globale du monde social interdit pratiquement aux électeurs catholiques et à leur famille de percevoir l'espace politique comme un espace autonome. La religion est alors une affaire publique qui pénètre les différents domaines de la vie sociale. Ce faisant, l'Église cherche à invalider une vision du monde laïque et un mode de socialisation qui affirme la spé­cificité d'un espace politique désormais séparé de tout principe structurant de nature reli­gieuse. Les tentatives pour imposer des catégories spécifiquement politiques sont stigmatisées comme réductrices, plus encore, destructrices de la personne humaine comme l'Église entend la gouverner dans sa totalité. RELIGIOUS SOCIALIZATION AND ELECTORAL BEHAVIOR IN FRANCE THE CATECHISMES AUGMENTES AFFAJDR This study is based on set of religious documents pastoral letters Semaines religieuses catechisms prayers Catholic textbooks newspapers etc. which draw the boundaries and the contents of citizenship as the French Catholics taught from the century to the period between the two wars The aim is to study the ways Catholic civic standards were circulated and to evaluate how the Catholic church contributed to the politiciwtion of the French society to evaluate its participation in defining repertory of political action that went along with the Catholic ethic and to go over the historical development of this work of political socialisation primary as well as secondary This inculcation of global religious vision of the social world virtually forbade Catholic voters and their families to see political space as autonomous Reli gion was thus public affair that penetrated the various areas of social life The Church sought to discredit secular vision of the world and type of socialization that supported the specifi city of apolitical space separate from any structural and religious principle Attempts to impose specifically political categories were stigmatized as simplistic or even more destructive of the human person as the Church meant to govern in its totality
Religious socialization and electoral behavior in france - the « catechismes augmentes » affair
This study is based on a set of religious documents (pastoral letters, Semaines religieuses, catechisms, prayers, Catholic voter's textbooks, newspapers, etc.) which draw the boundaries and the contents of citizenship as the French Catholics taught from the 19th century to the period between the two wars. The aim is to study the ways Catholic civic standards were circulated and to evaluate how the Catholic church contributed to the politicization of the French society, to evaluate its participation in defining a repertory of political action that went along with the Catholic ethic, and to go over the historical development of this work of political socialization (primary as well as secondary). This inculcation of a global religious vision of the social world virtually forbade Catholic voters and their families to see political space as autonomous. Reli­gion was thus a public affair that penetrated the various areas of social life. The Church sought to discredit a secular vision of the world and a type of socialization that supported the specifi­city of apolitical space separate from any structural and religious principle. Attempts to impose specifically political categories were stigmatized as simplistic or even more destructive of the « human person » as the Church meant to govern in its totality.
21 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.