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Solidarism as the Center of Economy—The Economics of Heinrich Pesch

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On the Economic Significance of the Catholic Social Doctrine

Part of the book series: The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences ((EHES,volume 19))

Abstract

The Jesuit Heinrich Pesch is known as the founder of Catholic social theory. He aimed for improving the situation of the workers and he was concerned with the comparison between individualistically oriented capitalism and collectivistic socialism, the conflict of the social classes, and the family as the basis of the state. To him the his three pillars of the social order (family, state, and private property) appeared as indispensable conditions of any cultural development and built the basis for a different perception of national economics. Many of his ideas stood in line with the spirit of Rerum novarum. Pesch’s economic system, which he called solidarism, was decisive for the development of the second social encyclical Quadragesimo anno and for further social encyclicals. Solidarism was a social philosophy that saw the working human person as central to economic life, employing the principle of subsidiarity to determine the role of the state in economic activity, and subordinating economic activity to the social virtues of justice and charity. The central socio-political thrust of Pesch’s solidarism is the construction of a strong welfare state based on principles of order, authority and morality. He regarded this as a legal obligation. In this way, Pesch’s solidarism can be understood as a middle way, mediating between individualism and socialism.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Der christliche Sozialismus, die Wirtschaftsverfassung der Zukunft (nach Heinrich Pesch dargestellt)”.

  2. 2.

    These distinctions remind one of Émile Durkheim’s division of solidarity into mechanical and organic solidarity (Durkheim 1988, 118–184). While mechanical solidarity derives from the similarities and agreements of the group, organic solidarity results from the division of labor, which is based on the diversity of individuals and follows mechanical solidarity. If societies differentiate and organize themselves cooperatively, processes of professionalization and individualization lead to high social complexity and at the same time to a stronger attachment of individuals within the whole (Durkheim 1988, 82).

  3. 3.

    The French social Catholic movement should also be mentioned here. They were divided into non-interventionists (Angers School) and interventionists (Liège School). The first argued that personal interests should be bound to the ethical maxim of responsibility for society and that the obligation to a moral life derived from divine law. The Liège School argued for state interventionism. Both approaches refer back to the teachings of the Spanish diplomat and state philosopher Juan Donoso Cortés (1809–1853), for whom solidarity meant the responsibility of all in the mutual achievement of redemption and eternity (Cortèz 1989, 158–159; Pesch 1925, 238). The social Catholics from Liège demanded protective rights for the workers and a new economic and social order based on Christian rather than liberalist principles; they sought to influence the decisions of Catholic social politicians and had considerable impact on the emergence of the social encyclical Rerum novarum (Reisz 2007, 41).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Management and Economics, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany

    Hans A. Frambach

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  1. Hans A. Frambach
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Krupp Chair in Public Finance and Fiscal Sociology, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Thüringen, Germany

    JÜRGEN BACKHAUS

  2. Chamber of Labour, AK Wien, Vienna, Austria

    GÜNTHER CHALOUPEK

  3. Microeconomics and the History of Economic Thought Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Management and Economics, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany

    HANS A. FRAMBACH

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Frambach, H.A. (2017). Solidarism as the Center of Economy—The Economics of Heinrich Pesch. In: BACKHAUS, J., CHALOUPEK, G., FRAMBACH, H. (eds) On the Economic Significance of the Catholic Social Doctrine. The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52545-7_3

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