Louis-Joseph Lebret

Louis-Joseph Lebret (1897–1966) was a French Dominican social scientist and philosopher who sought to "put the economy at the service of man" and advanced the notion of the "human economy". He was also responsible for introducing concern for development to the Catholic Church. He was aware of the challenges posed to the Church and the Western by underdevelopment and pushed the argument for an increased solidarity with poor countries. He was involved with the drafting the documents Gaudium et spes, an influential voice in the crafting of Populorum progressio and a founder of the Économie et Humanisme (Economy and Humanism) movement.[1][2]

Goulet singles out Lebret as an early voice in defense of ethically-based development and reports his definition of development as

the series of transitions, for a given population and all the population groups which comprise it, from a less human to a more human pattern of existence, at the speediest rhythm possible, at the lowest possible cost, while taking into account all the bonds of solidarity which exist (or ought to exist) amongst these populations and population groups.

Goulet argues that Lebret's use of the normative expressions - more or less human should be understood in terms of Lebret's distinction between to have more (plus avoir) and to be more (plus être).[1]

Goulet argues that Lebret left legacy with five lessons for the increasingly globalised world:

  1. that development decision-makers must study the expressed needs of populations in whose benefit they profess to work
  2. the need to link micro issues to macro questions
  3. the priority of needs over wants or preferences (expressed by effective purchasing power).
  4. that development is multidimensional: embracing economic, social, political, cultural, environmental, and spiritual components of human well-being.
  5. the need to globalize solidarity.[1]

Other sources

Garreau (Lydie), Louis-Joseph Lebret, 1897-1966. Un homme traqué, Villeurbanne, Éditions Golias, 1997.

Houée (Paul), Louis Joseph Lebret. Un éveilleur d’humanité, Paris, Éditions de l’Atelier, 1997.

Lavigne (Jean-Claude), Les écrits spirituel du Père Lebret, Paris, Cerf et Éditions de l’Atelier, 1996.

Malley (François), Le Père Lebret: L'économie au service des hommes, Paris, Cerf, 1968.

Becker (Charles), Missehougbe (Pierre-Paul) et Verdin (Philippe), Le père Lebret, un dominicain économiste au Sénégal (1957 - 1963), Paris, Karthala, 2007

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdscien/documents/miscellanea2.pdf Goulet, Denis (2000) The Evolving Nature of Development in the Light of Globalization PONTIFICIAE ACADEMIAE SCIENTIARUM SOCIALIUM, MISCELLANEA 2 Proceedings of the Workshop on:THE SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF GLOBALISATION Proceedings edited by LOUIS SABOURIN, PONTIFICIA ACADEMIA SCIENTIARUM SOCIALIUM VATICAN CITY ISBN 88-86726-06-6 Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences(21–22 February 2000)
  2. ↑ http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Joseph_Lebret Louis-Joseph Lebret : French Wikipedia