L'Entreprise et l'Evangile

Up until now the Christian employers' movement has not been widely studied, yet it has had a profound impact on business ethics, including in the fight against corruption since the 1990s. It is neither a church institution, nor a representative body, nor a club of business leaders; rather, it seeks above all to be a school of thought. Today it is embodied in an organisation of Christian business leaders and entrepreneurs – Entrepreneurs and Dirigeants Chrétiens (EDC) – which was born out of the 1940s transformation of a federation of Catholic professional unions, created in 1926.

Drawing on previously unpublished archives and interviews, the authors analyse the engagements of these business leaders, for whom management is synonymous with service. It sheds new light on the history of businesses in the contemporary era, on the influence of the church's social doctrine and Vatican II for a segment of the Catholic elite. It also explores the Church’s dilemmas regarding dechristianisation and the triumph of capitalism.