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Catholic Intellectuals and the Challenges of Democracy
In this sweeping volume, Corrin discusses the influences of Cecil and G. K. Chesterton, H. A. Reinhold, Hilaire Belloc, and many others on the development of Catholic social, economic, and political thought, with a special focus on Belloc and Reinhold as representatives of reactionary and progressive positions, respectively. He also provides an in-depth analysis of Catholic Distributists' responses to the labor unrest in Britain prior to World War I and later, in the 1930s, to the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War and the forces of fascism and communism.
584 pages, Hardcover
First published June 24, 2002
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September 1, 2022
In Catholic Intellectuals and the Challenge of Democracy, Jay Corrin has authored one of the most important works on modern Catholic thought.
Corrin begins by chronicling the movements and figures that led to Rerum Novarum, which he argues was a seminal force in developing a Catholic approach to social action. In turn, this document and labor unrest paved the way for GK Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc, who both began as sort of populists and developed into distributists. Corrin traces a divergence among adherents of Catholic Social Thought into two branches; one branch upheld democracy while the other fell in with authoritarianism. As an aside, this idea of divering approaches reminded me of Catholic Modern: The Challenge of Totalitarianism and the Remaking of the Church. Both opposed Communism and capitalist individualism, pushing a "third way" ideology. Even the figures he identifies as adherents to liberal democracy make critiques that today would be seen as post-liberal. Corrin's great achievement with this work is to highlight the supporters of a democratic third way Catholic politics. Indeed, this book should be a cautionary tale for today's emerging post-liberal critics. As Catholics, we must not become so obsessed with opposing others that we forget the teachings of the Church and support movements that contradict Christ's teachings.
Corrin shows readers exactly how this happened. Hilaire Belloc's strident anti-communism and distrust of parliamentary democracy led him astray into all sorts of prejudices and conspiracy theories. He began to see a monarch, and eventually fascists, as the solution to sweep away parliament and carry out his political program. It wasn't only Belloc; Charles Coughlin and Cecil Chesterton are some of the other figues in this camp who shared and expanded on Belloc's ideas. As the author argues, this position was tragic because it often undermined Catholic teachings and served repulsive regimes. For instance, Corrin traces how Belloc and his followers ended up taking the Nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War and the Italian side in the invasion of Abyssnina, notwithstanding these factions' horrible crimes. Corrin's discussion of Catholic reactions to the Spanish Civil War is both detailed and illuminating.
On the other hand, Corrin also examines in a more democratic, perhaps one might say progressive even, tradition in Catholic social action. This was represented by figures like H.A. Reinhold, Jacques Maritain, Don Luigi Sturzo (who I learned a ton about through this book and quite admire), and Virgil Michel. Reinhold especially plays a prominent role in the book as the foil to Hilaire Belloc. These thinkers often paid more attention to personalism and human dignity which together led them to advocate democracy, but without necessarily being liberal individualists. They all grasped, like their forefathers Von Ketteler and Manning, the need to address peoples' misery in order to forestall communism and authoritarianism. Therefore, applying Catholic principles to politics meant tacking poverty and inequality while giving people a voice through unions, coops, and suffrage. This group was resolutely against fascism and communism.
Corrin does a great job elaborating on the figures he discusses, and he dives deep into history to dig up journals, articles, etc that were part of each movement. His level of research is paired with a surprising level of clarity, making this long book flow well.
Another reason I love this book is because Corrin is one of the best historians of distributism I've read. Many of the figures discussed in this book were distributists, both on the democratic and authoritarian paths. In the end, as those two movements diverged, the distributist movement fell apart. As somebody who has done a lot of research on the subject, I can attest to Corrin's thoroughness and accuracy. Overall, this is an amazing read for those interested in Catholic politics.
Corrin begins by chronicling the movements and figures that led to Rerum Novarum, which he argues was a seminal force in developing a Catholic approach to social action. In turn, this document and labor unrest paved the way for GK Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc, who both began as sort of populists and developed into distributists. Corrin traces a divergence among adherents of Catholic Social Thought into two branches; one branch upheld democracy while the other fell in with authoritarianism. As an aside, this idea of divering approaches reminded me of Catholic Modern: The Challenge of Totalitarianism and the Remaking of the Church. Both opposed Communism and capitalist individualism, pushing a "third way" ideology. Even the figures he identifies as adherents to liberal democracy make critiques that today would be seen as post-liberal. Corrin's great achievement with this work is to highlight the supporters of a democratic third way Catholic politics. Indeed, this book should be a cautionary tale for today's emerging post-liberal critics. As Catholics, we must not become so obsessed with opposing others that we forget the teachings of the Church and support movements that contradict Christ's teachings.
Corrin shows readers exactly how this happened. Hilaire Belloc's strident anti-communism and distrust of parliamentary democracy led him astray into all sorts of prejudices and conspiracy theories. He began to see a monarch, and eventually fascists, as the solution to sweep away parliament and carry out his political program. It wasn't only Belloc; Charles Coughlin and Cecil Chesterton are some of the other figues in this camp who shared and expanded on Belloc's ideas. As the author argues, this position was tragic because it often undermined Catholic teachings and served repulsive regimes. For instance, Corrin traces how Belloc and his followers ended up taking the Nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War and the Italian side in the invasion of Abyssnina, notwithstanding these factions' horrible crimes. Corrin's discussion of Catholic reactions to the Spanish Civil War is both detailed and illuminating.
On the other hand, Corrin also examines in a more democratic, perhaps one might say progressive even, tradition in Catholic social action. This was represented by figures like H.A. Reinhold, Jacques Maritain, Don Luigi Sturzo (who I learned a ton about through this book and quite admire), and Virgil Michel. Reinhold especially plays a prominent role in the book as the foil to Hilaire Belloc. These thinkers often paid more attention to personalism and human dignity which together led them to advocate democracy, but without necessarily being liberal individualists. They all grasped, like their forefathers Von Ketteler and Manning, the need to address peoples' misery in order to forestall communism and authoritarianism. Therefore, applying Catholic principles to politics meant tacking poverty and inequality while giving people a voice through unions, coops, and suffrage. This group was resolutely against fascism and communism.
Corrin does a great job elaborating on the figures he discusses, and he dives deep into history to dig up journals, articles, etc that were part of each movement. His level of research is paired with a surprising level of clarity, making this long book flow well.
Another reason I love this book is because Corrin is one of the best historians of distributism I've read. Many of the figures discussed in this book were distributists, both on the democratic and authoritarian paths. In the end, as those two movements diverged, the distributist movement fell apart. As somebody who has done a lot of research on the subject, I can attest to Corrin's thoroughness and accuracy. Overall, this is an amazing read for those interested in Catholic politics.
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