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

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.