Louis Joseph Lebret

For a Human-Centred Economy

A Mariner Economist

• Brittany 1897-1966 Paris• Naval school & Naval Office – traffic manager at

port of Beirut• Entered the Order aged 26• Studied at Rijckholt, Netherlands• Founded ‘Movement of St Malo’ for fishermen• Founded Économie et Humanisme• Worked for the Vatican at the UN

Movement of St Malo

• 1929, Lebret fell ill & sent to St Malo convent to convelesce

• Faced with the poverty of the fishermen, he began to develop his concept of human economy

• With friend Ernst Lamort, helped them:– 1931 Secrétariat Social Maritime – unions– Journal La Voix du Marin– 1930 Jeunesse Maritime Chrétienne

A Dream Fulfilled

• 1930s studying social & economic theory– including fisheries for early Vichy government

• 1941 created Économie et Humanisme – realising his dream of a study centre on ‘complex

socio-economic realities’– ‘human economy’ approach of methodology &

intervention– seeking to expose the economic mechanisms behind

poverty– experimenting with new social relationships

Human Economy• Two fundemental principles:

– respect for human person: Mournier’s Personalist Manifesto– establishment of the common good: Aquinas on community of the

Trinity, relation of creation & Creator, political good• Catholic Church slow to see modern economic realities:

– ‘Social Catholic’ palliative approach not enough– Lebret’s reading of Marx countered this by engaging with materialistic

capitalism– not Marxist: class struggle incompatible with common good– worker-priests suspended 1954: ended his dialogue + Marxism

• Social sciences for global development– multidisciplinary: links between sociology & economics, development

& psychology– involvement of researchers in their subject: solidarity with active

agents of transformation• Montée humaine: goal of improving life for all people

Économie et Humanisme

• Journal established Lyon 1942 – to inform & provoke debate in society– with study & training sessions at the centre

• Scientific studies for public authorities– e.g. on housing, migration, disabled children– role in post-war reconstruction of France & Europe– competence in regional development, social action &

housing

• Influential on decision-makers of 1950s & 60s• Still published today

Human Development“Development is a continuous harmonious growth aimed at

valuing the human person”• Lectures at São Paolo 1947:

– found misery of shanty towns & people’s capacity to engage– raised awareness of Latin America’s needs in Europe

• Centres of Human Economy set up worldwide– influence on OP in Brazil– 1955+ travel to Asia & West Africa– Journal Développement et Civilisations

• 1958 IRFED institute for research on development– problems of urban economy e.g. shanty towns– macro-economic studies e.g. Vietnam, Rwanda

• Lebret Centre in Paris: – continues development work today, links with Latin America

Vatican II

• Became friends with future Paul VI– their discussions led to Populorum Progressio, which

Lebret drafted• Called as expert counsel to Vatican II

– aided Dom Helder Camara, bishop of Recife, Brazil– helped draft material for Gaudium et Spes

• 1964 Vatican spokesperson for UNCTAD – UN Conference on Trade & Development

• Member of Pontifical Secretariat for Social Justice & Development – future Council for Justice & Peace

Socio-Economic Change

• Context of socio-economic change & reconstruction after WWII

• Believed people are free & responsible, so able to transform their situations– awareness of unjust economic mechanisms needed– the aware ‘militants’ are catalysts for change– first study causes, then act as a team– group solidarity thus brings about the common good

“The greatest evil in the world is not the poverty of those without, but the lack of awareness of the well-

to-do”

Fundamental Needs

• A whole person is both body & spirit• Hierarchy of needs (1943 article)

– primary are essential for life e.g. food, housing, peace, trust – society in balance

– secondary are useful e.g. travel, radio – prosperous society– tertiary are rare e.g. works of art – cultivated society

• A controversial system (economists cannot quantify) • Yet socio-politically essential: the economy as a tool for

attaining social objectives

“We want with all our might an economy of the human order, where a mass of goods, spread as widely as possible, is distributed according to how urgent are the needs of all,

and not according to a hierarchy of ability to pay.”