Political economy and religion in early 19th Century France

There was in early 19th century France a widespread revival of religious sentiment, following the turmoil of the Revolution and the intellectual onslaught upon religion so central to the French Enlightenment. Simultaneously, political economy became more prominent among publicists and political élites. These two developments influenced those who sought to further a modern society and who in their different ways expressed a new approach known as "industrialisme". These writers put forward several versions of the links that should exist in industrial society between political economy and religion. We first note that a truly a-religious political economy based on self-interested behaviour and utilitarianism, such as the one presented in J.-B. Say's writings, gained acceptance for most people interested in the "new" science. This point of departure is important not only because Say's thought became a major reference for the different conceptions of "industrialisme", but also because it provided a utilitarian evaluation of religious institutions and feelings. Next, we notice that some other conceptions of "industrialisme" can be found in the leading members of two distinct schools of thought: the Groupe de Coppet, with Germaine de Staël and Benjamin Constant; and the less homogeneous group formed by Claude-Henri Saint-Simon, the Saint-Simonians and Auguste Comte. Both approaches presumed that self-interest was incapable of uniting the social body, and placed much emphasis on religious feelings in explaining how societies could function harmoniously. We examine how Staël and Constant dealt with these issues and how, while accepting the principle of competition in economic activity, their conception of the specific nature of liberty in a modern society led them into a critique of utilitarianism and morals based on interest; and also to the idea that the harmonious functioning of the industrial society requires a morality based upon religion. We then study how "industrialisme" was modified to fit the views of modern society held by Saint-Simon, the Saint-Simonians, and Auguste Comte. Political and civil liberty was not a central matter for these writers. Instead, they rather favoured the creation of organisations capable of regulating a chaotic social order; and in this perspective new forms of religion were given a prominent place, specifically formed to suit the industrial social order and based on philanthropy or altruism. In the concluding section we briefly note that, after all such criticism, some leading liberal economists reacted in defence of political economy and developed their own conceptions of the links between economics and religion: they rejected the idea of the necessity of a new religion and insisted instead on traditional Catholic ideas. But then political economy and religion were conceived as two pillars of a conservative order following the rise of socialist ideas.