Non-conformists of the 1930s
Encyclopedia
The Non-Conformists of the 1930s refers to a nebula of groups and individuals during the inter-war period in France
which was looking for new solutions to face the political, economical
and social crisis. The name was coined in 1969 by the historian Jean-Louis Loubet del Bayle to describe a movement which revolved around Emmanuel Mounier
's personalism
. Locating themselves rather on the right-wing of the political spectrum
, they attempted to find a "Third Way
" between socialism
and capitalism
, and opposed liberalism
, parliamentarism, democracy
and fascism
.
These young intellectuals (most were about 25 years old) all considered that France was confronted by a "civilisation crisis" and opposed, despite their differences, what Mounier called the "established disorder" (le désordre établi). The latter was represented by capitalism
, individualism
, economic liberalism
and materialism
. Opposed both to Fascism
and to Communism
(qualified for the first as a "false Fascist-spiritualism
" and for the latter as plain materialism), they aimed at creating the conditions of a "spiritual revolution" which would simultaneously transform Man and things. They called for a "New Order," beyond individualism and collectivism
, oriented towards a "federalist
," "communautary and personalist" organisation of social relations.
The Non-Conformists were influenced both by French Socialism
, in particular by Proudhonism (an important influence of Ordre nouveau) and by Social Catholicism, which permeated Esprit and the Jeune Droite. They inherited from both currents a form of scepticism towards politics, which explains some anti-statism
stances, and renewed interest in social and economical transformations . Foreign influences were more restricted, and were limited to the discovery of the "precursors of existentialism
" (Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Max Scheler
) and contacts between Ordre nouveau and several members of the German Conservative Revolution movement . They were in favor of decentralization
, underscored the importance of intermediary bodies, and opposed finance capitalism
.
The movement was close to liberalism
in the attention given to civil society
and in its distrust of the state; but it also criticized liberal individualism and its negligence of "intermediate bodies" (family, village, etc. — the reactionary writer Maurice Barrès
also insisted on the latter). They were characterized by the will to find a "Third Way
" between Socialism and Capitalism, individualism and collectivism, idealism
and materialism and the left-right distinction in politics .
After the February 6, 1934 riots organized by far-right leagues, the Non-Conformists split toward various directions. Bertrand de Jouvenel
made the link between the Non-Conformists and the supporters of planisme
, a new economical theory invented by the Belgian Henri de Man
, as well as with the technocratic
Groupe X-Crise
. They influenced both Vichy
's Révolution nationale
(Jeune France, Ecole des cadres d'Uriage, etc.) and political programs of the Resistance
(Combat
, Défense de la France
, OCM
, etc.) In November 1941, René Vincent, in charge of Vichy censorship
services, created the journal Idées (1941-44) which gathered the Non-Conformists who supported Marshal Philippe Pétain
's regime .
, many of these Non-Conformists (Robert Aron
, Daniel-Rops, Jean de Fabrègues, Alexandre Marc, Thierry Maulnier
) became activists of European federalist movements. The founder of Ordre nouveau, Alexandre Marc, became in 1946 the first secretary of the Union of European Federalists . He would then create the Centre international de formation européenne
(CIFE) in 1954, which lives on to this day.
Breaking with part of its legacy, Esprit
involved itself in New Left
movements and would also influence in the 1970s the "Second Left," gathered around the Unified Socialist Party
(PSU).
After May '68, some environmentalist
movements renewed with this "spirit of the 1930s" (in particular Denis de Rougemont
or Jacques Ellul
). They have also influenced Christian Democracy
.
Abroad, the Non-Conformists found an audience in Quebec
between the 1930s to the 1970s or among Eastern Europe
dissidents, and would also influence Catholic circles in the second half of the 20th century.
France in the twentieth century
The History of France from 1914 to the present includes:*the later years of the Third Republic *World War I *World War II *the Fourth Republic *the Fifth Republic -Geography:...
which was looking for new solutions to face the political, economical
Great Depression in France
The Great Depression affected France from about 1931 through the remainder of the decade. The depression had drastic effects on the local economy, which can partly explain the 6 February 1934 crisis and even more the formation of the Popular Front, led by SFIO socialist leader Léon Blum, who won...
and social crisis. The name was coined in 1969 by the historian Jean-Louis Loubet del Bayle to describe a movement which revolved around Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier was a French philosopher.Mounier was the guiding spirit in the French Personalist movement, and founder and director of Esprit, the magazine which was the organ of the movement. Mounier, who was the child of peasants, was a brilliant scholar at the Sorbonne...
's personalism
Personalism
Personalism is a philosophical school of thought searching to describe the uniqueness of a human person in the world of nature, specifically in relation to animals...
. Locating themselves rather on the right-wing of the political spectrum
Left-Right politics
The left–right political spectrum is a common way of classifying political positions, political ideologies, or political parties along a one-dimensional political spectrum. The perspective of Left vs. Right is a binary interpretation of complex questions...
, they attempted to find a "Third Way
Third way (centrism)
The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as...
" between socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, and opposed liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, parliamentarism, democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
and fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
.
Main currents
Three main currents of non-conformists may be distinguished:- The review EspritEsprit (magazine)Esprit is a French literary magazine. Founded in October 1932 by Emmanuel Mounier, it was the principal review of personalist intellectuals of the time. From 1957 to 1976, it was directed by Jean-Marie Domenach. Paul Thibaud directed it from 1977 to 1989. The philosopher Paul Ricoeur often...
, founded in 1931 by Emmanuel MounierEmmanuel MounierEmmanuel Mounier was a French philosopher.Mounier was the guiding spirit in the French Personalist movement, and founder and director of Esprit, the magazine which was the organ of the movement. Mounier, who was the child of peasants, was a brilliant scholar at the Sorbonne...
and which was the main mouthpiece of personalism. - The Ordre nouveau (New Order) group, created by Alexandre Marc and influenced by Robert AronRobert AronRobert Aron was a French writer who authored a number of works on politics and history.-Early life:...
and Arnaud Dandieu's works. Charles de GaulleCharles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
would have some contacts with them between the end of 1934 and the beginning of 1935 . Jean Coutrot, who became during the Popular FrontPopular Front (France)The Popular Front was an alliance of left-wing movements, including the French Communist Party , the French Section of the Workers' International and the Radical and Socialist Party, during the interwar period...
vice-president of the Committee of Scientific Organisation of Labour of the Minister Charles SpinasseCharles SpinasseCharles Spinasse was a French politician. He served as mayor of Égletons from 1929 to 1944 and again from 1965 to 1977. He belonged to the French Section of the Workers' International . In 1938, he served as France's minister of budget....
, participated to the technical reunions of Ordre nouveau . - The Jeune Droite (Young Right — a term coined by Mounier) which gathered young intellectualIntellectualAn intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
s who had more or less broke with the monarchist Action françaiseAction FrançaiseThe Action Française , founded in 1898, is a French Monarchist counter-revolutionary movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras...
, including Jean de Fabrègues, Jean-Pierre MaxenceJean-Pierre MaxenceJean-Pierre Maxence was a French writer who was one of the so-called Non-conformists of the 1930s. Maxence was a leading figure within the so-called Jeune Droite tendency and was associated with other Catholic writers such as Jean de Fabrègues and René Vincent.Born in Paris as Pierre Godmé he...
, Thierry MaulnierThierry MaulnierThierry Maulnier was a French journalist, essayist, dramatist, and literary critic.-Before 1940:...
, Maurice BlanchotMaurice BlanchotMaurice Blanchot was a French writer, philosopher, and literary theorist. His work had a strong influence on post-structuralist philosophers such as Jacques Derrida.-Works:...
, as well as the journals Les Cahiers, Réaction pour l'ordre, La Revue française or La Revue du Siècle.
These young intellectuals (most were about 25 years old) all considered that France was confronted by a "civilisation crisis" and opposed, despite their differences, what Mounier called the "established disorder" (le désordre établi). The latter was represented by capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, individualism
Individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
, economic liberalism
Economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is the ideological belief in giving all people economic freedom, and as such granting people with more basis to control their own lives and make their own mistakes. It is an economic philosophy that supports and promotes individual liberty and choice in economic matters and...
and materialism
Materialism
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...
. Opposed both to Fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and to Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
(qualified for the first as a "false Fascist-spiritualism
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
" and for the latter as plain materialism), they aimed at creating the conditions of a "spiritual revolution" which would simultaneously transform Man and things. They called for a "New Order," beyond individualism and collectivism
Collectivism
Collectivism is any philosophic, political, economic, mystical or social outlook that emphasizes the interdependence of every human in some collective group and the priority of group goals over individual goals. Collectivists usually focus on community, society, or nation...
, oriented towards a "federalist
Federalist
The term federalist describes several political beliefs around the world. Also, it may refer to the concept of federalism or the type of government called a federation...
," "communautary and personalist" organisation of social relations.
The Non-Conformists were influenced both by French Socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, in particular by Proudhonism (an important influence of Ordre nouveau) and by Social Catholicism, which permeated Esprit and the Jeune Droite. They inherited from both currents a form of scepticism towards politics, which explains some anti-statism
Anti-statism
Anti-statism is a term describing opposition to state intervention into personal, social, and economic affairs. Anti-statist views may reject the state completely as well as rulership in general , they may wish to reduce the size and scope of the state to a minimum , or they may advocate a...
stances, and renewed interest in social and economical transformations . Foreign influences were more restricted, and were limited to the discovery of the "precursors of existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
" (Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Max Scheler
Max Scheler
Max Scheler was a German philosopher known for his work in phenomenology, ethics, and philosophical anthropology...
) and contacts between Ordre nouveau and several members of the German Conservative Revolution movement . They were in favor of decentralization
Decentralization
__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
, underscored the importance of intermediary bodies, and opposed finance capitalism
Finance capitalism
Finance capitalism is a term in Marxian political economics defined as the subordination of processes of production to the accumulation of money profits in a financial system. It is characterized by the pursuit of profit from the purchase and sale of, or investment in, currencies and financial...
.
The movement was close to liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
in the attention given to civil society
Civil society
Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...
and in its distrust of the state; but it also criticized liberal individualism and its negligence of "intermediate bodies" (family, village, etc. — the reactionary writer Maurice Barrès
Maurice Barrès
Maurice Barrès was a French novelist, journalist, and socialist politician and agitator known for his nationalist and antisemitic views....
also insisted on the latter). They were characterized by the will to find a "Third Way
Third way (centrism)
The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as...
" between Socialism and Capitalism, individualism and collectivism, idealism
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
and materialism and the left-right distinction in politics .
After the February 6, 1934 riots organized by far-right leagues, the Non-Conformists split toward various directions. Bertrand de Jouvenel
Bertrand de Jouvenel
Bertrand de Jouvenel des Ursins, usually known only as Bertrand de Jouvenel was a French philosopher, political economist, and futurist.-Life:...
made the link between the Non-Conformists and the supporters of planisme
Planisme
Planisme was an ideological current in the interwar period which advocated the use of economic plans and planification. Représentants of planisme include, in France, the groupe X-crise, and in Belgium Henri de Man...
, a new economical theory invented by the Belgian Henri de Man
Henri de Man
Henri De Man was one of the leading Belgian socialist theoreticians of his period, who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II...
, as well as with the technocratic
Technocracy (bureaucratic)
Technocracy is a form of government where technical experts are in control of decision making in their respective fields. Economists, engineers, scientists, health professionals, and those who have knowledge, expertise or skills would compose the governing body...
Groupe X-Crise
Groupe X-Crise
The Groupe X-Crise was a French technocratic movement created in 1931 as an aftermath of the 1929 Wall Street stock market crash and the Great Depression. Formed by former students of the École Polytechnique , it advocated planisme, or economic planification, as opposed to the then dominant...
. They influenced both Vichy
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
's Révolution nationale
Révolution nationale
The Révolution nationale was the official ideological name under which the Vichy regime established by Marshal Philippe Pétain in July 1940 presented its program...
(Jeune France, Ecole des cadres d'Uriage, etc.) and political programs of the Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
(Combat
Combat (newspaper)
Combat was a French newspaper created during the Second World War. Originally a clandestine newspaper of the Resistance, it was headed by Albert Ollivier, Jean Bloch-Michel, Georges Altschuler and, most of all, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, André Malraux, Emmanuel Mounier, and then Raymond Aron...
, Défense de la France
Défense de la France
Défense de la France is the name given to a group of the French Resistance during the Second World War.Essentially developed in the Northern Zone, Défense de la France distinguishes itself by an activity centred on the distribution of a clandestine newspaper created in August 1941 by a group of...
, OCM
Organisation civile et militaire
The Organisation civile et militaire was one of the great movements of the French Resistance in the zone occupée, the northern German-occupied region of France, during the Second World War....
, etc.) In November 1941, René Vincent, in charge of Vichy censorship
Censorship in France
France has a long history of governmental censorship, particularly in the 16th to 18th centuries, but today freedom of press is guaranteed by the French Constitution and instances of governmental censorship are relatively limited and isolated....
services, created the journal Idées (1941-44) which gathered the Non-Conformists who supported Marshal Philippe Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
's regime .
Post-war legacy
After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, many of these Non-Conformists (Robert Aron
Robert Aron
Robert Aron was a French writer who authored a number of works on politics and history.-Early life:...
, Daniel-Rops, Jean de Fabrègues, Alexandre Marc, Thierry Maulnier
Thierry Maulnier
Thierry Maulnier was a French journalist, essayist, dramatist, and literary critic.-Before 1940:...
) became activists of European federalist movements. The founder of Ordre nouveau, Alexandre Marc, became in 1946 the first secretary of the Union of European Federalists . He would then create the Centre international de formation européenne
Centre international de formation européenne
Established in 1954, the Centre international de formation européenne is a private non-profit-making international organisation which includes several European studies courses as well as conferences, seminars and publications...
(CIFE) in 1954, which lives on to this day.
Breaking with part of its legacy, Esprit
Esprit (magazine)
Esprit is a French literary magazine. Founded in October 1932 by Emmanuel Mounier, it was the principal review of personalist intellectuals of the time. From 1957 to 1976, it was directed by Jean-Marie Domenach. Paul Thibaud directed it from 1977 to 1989. The philosopher Paul Ricoeur often...
involved itself in New Left
New Left
The New Left was a term used mainly in the United Kingdom and United States in reference to activists, educators, agitators and others in the 1960s and 1970s who sought to implement a broad range of reforms, in contrast to earlier leftist or Marxist movements that had taken a more vanguardist...
movements and would also influence in the 1970s the "Second Left," gathered around the Unified Socialist Party
Unified Socialist Party (France)
The Unified Socialist Party was a socialist political party in France, founded on April 3, 1960. It was originally led by Édouard Depreux , and by Michel Rocard .- History :...
(PSU).
After May '68, some environmentalist
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
movements renewed with this "spirit of the 1930s" (in particular Denis de Rougemont
Denis de Rougemont
Denis de Rougemont was a Swiss writer, who wrote in French.He studied at the University of Neuchâtel, and then moved to Paris in 1930. There he wrote for and edited various publications, associating with the personalist groupings and the non-conformists of the 1930s...
or Jacques Ellul
Jacques Ellul
Jacques Ellul was a French philosopher, law professor, sociologist, lay theologian, and Christian anarchist. He wrote several books about the "technological society" and the interaction between Christianity and politics....
). They have also influenced Christian Democracy
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
.
Abroad, the Non-Conformists found an audience in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
between the 1930s to the 1970s or among Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
dissidents, and would also influence Catholic circles in the second half of the 20th century.
Further reading
- Pierre Andreu, Révoltes de l'esprit.Les revues des années 30, Kime, 1999
- Michel Berges,Vichy contre Mounier. Les non-conformistes face aux années 40, Economica, 1997
- Jean-Louis Loubet del Bayle, Les non-conformistes des années 30. Une trentative de renouvellement de la pensée politique française, Seuil, 1969 (Points, Seuil, 2001) ISBN 978-2020487016
- Christophe Le Dréau,« L’Europe des non-conformistes des années 30 : les idées européistes de New Britain et New Europe», in Olivier Dard & Etienne Deschamps (sous la dir.), Les nouvelles relèves en Europe, Bruxelles, Peter Lang, 2005, pp.311-330.
- Jean Touchard, "L'Esprit des années 1930: Une Tentative de renouvellement de la pensée politique française," in Tendances politiques de la vie française depuis 1789 (Paris: Hachette, 1960), 89-118
See also
- Claude ChevalleyClaude ChevalleyClaude Chevalley was a French mathematician who made important contributions to number theory, algebraic geometry, class field theory, finite group theory, and the theory of algebraic groups...
, a non-conformist who became a member of the Bourbaki groupSéminaire Nicolas BourbakiThe Séminaire Nicolas Bourbaki is a series of seminars that has been held in Paris since 1948. It is one of the major institutions of contemporary mathematics, and a barometer of mathematical achievement, fashion, and reputation... - NeosocialismNeosocialismNeosocialism was a political trend of socialism, represented in France during the 1930s and in Belgium, which included several revisionist tendencies in the French Section of the Workers' International...
- PersonalismPersonalismPersonalism is a philosophical school of thought searching to describe the uniqueness of a human person in the world of nature, specifically in relation to animals...
- PlanismePlanismePlanisme was an ideological current in the interwar period which advocated the use of economic plans and planification. Représentants of planisme include, in France, the groupe X-crise, and in Belgium Henri de Man...
- Groupe X-CriseGroupe X-CriseThe Groupe X-Crise was a French technocratic movement created in 1931 as an aftermath of the 1929 Wall Street stock market crash and the Great Depression. Formed by former students of the École Polytechnique , it advocated planisme, or economic planification, as opposed to the then dominant...
- French Third RepublicFrench Third RepublicThe French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
and France in the twentieth centuryFrance in the twentieth centuryThe History of France from 1914 to the present includes:*the later years of the Third Republic *World War I *World War II *the Fourth Republic *the Fifth Republic -Geography:...
External links
- Jean-Louis Loubet del Bayle, Le mouvement personnaliste français des années 1930 et sa postérité in the review Politique et Sociétés , Vol. 17, nos 1-2, 1998