Public solidarity – The Beginnings, by Léon Bourgeois

The concept of Solidarite emerged among progressive circles during the French Restoration. This article traces the process that resulted in the shift of this concept from the natural and social sciences domain to the political sphere. Leon Bourgeois, a radical Prime Minister under the third Republic, instigated this change in 1896. He formulated a political doctrine (“Solidarism”) based on the irrefutable fact that all individuals were interdependent and therefore subject to mutual obligations. This model, combining socialist and liberal ideas, was a possible challenge to both the unbridled liberalism and emerging collectivist ideas at the time. Today, this liberal-democratic mix has yet to find its place in public solidarity policies at both national and international level.