Des philanthropies aux politiques sociales : solutions françaises et allemandes à la question sociale en Haute-Alsace (1850-1914)
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Abstract EN:
The "haute-alsace" during the "second empire" was one of the best examples of the success of a philanthropic policy. For contemporaries, social peace and the economic prosperity witnessed the superiority of this way of fighting against the social issue. The private social measures initiated by the employers elites in the factories or in the industrial cities or villages, tended to preserve the social harmony by preserving or reshaping local communities, whose stability was threatened by th e industrialisation. In the same time these measures helped shaped the members of theses comunities for new roles in the modern industrial society. The success and the reputation of this "alsacienne" philanthropy was also due to the converg ence of the state social policy during the "second empire", which consisted in encouraging private initiatives, with the agenda of the alsaciennes elites who wished to preserve their "liberty" toward the central power. At the end of the 19th century, this balance was questioned on two fronts. On one side by the german administration whic h sought to integrate alsace politically and socially into germany by weakening the power of local elites. On the other side as the working class movement grew in power the workers were able to strengthen their horizontal ties of solidarity at the expense of the vertical links with the local elites.
Abstract FR:
La haute-alsace constitua sous le second empire un exemple de reussite du modele philanthropique dont temoignaient le calme social autant que la prosperite economique dont cette region fut le theatre. Les mesures sociales privees mises en oeuvre par les industriels notables dans la fabrique ou localement, dans la ville ou le village industriel tendaient en effet a preserver l'harmonie sociale en reconstituant ou preservant des communautes locales que l'industrialisation men acait de dechirer. Dans le meme temps elles formaient les individus a prendre leur place dans la nouvelle societe indust rielle. La reussite et la reputation du modele philanthropique alsacien resulta enfin d'une harmonie entre l'etat, dont le role social sous le second empire consista a favoriser les initiatives privees, et les industriels qui virent dans le developpement de celles-ci le moyen de preserver leur "liberte" a l'egard du pouvoir central. A la fin du 19eme siecle, les pratiques philanthropiques developpees localement par les industriels notables furent conf rontees a une double remise en cause. L'ideal d'harmonie sociale fondee sur le maintien des communautes locales dont l'industriel constituait le chef se heurta au projet de germanisation et d'integration politique et sociale de l'adminis tration allemande et au developpement de mouvements ouvriers qui privilegierent les solidarites horizontales. Ce double mouvement s'accompagna de la mise en place de politiques sociales publiques dans le cadre communal ou a l'initiative de l'etat.