Colloque : "Committed but not Activist? Engaging in Catholic European and Colonial Charities (1945-2000)"

Colloque : Committed but not Activist? Engaging in Catholic European and Colonial Charities (1945-2000)

The conference aims to examine the forms of Catholic involvement in European social and health care organisations after the Second World War, whether they were officially Catholic or involved significant numbers of Catholics. By bringing together the experiences of different sectors of health and social care, in different European countries and in European colonies or former colonies, we aim to paint a picture of European Catholic involvement, its diversity and the changes it underwent after the war, between transnational continuities and national specificities. How have Catholic charities adapted to the many changes in European societies, and how have these changes affected the forms and nature of the actors' commitment? Among these changes, the generalisation of welfare has forced them to reformulate their modes of operation and financing. The relationship between European societies and religion has changed considerably: religious institutions have lost their hegemonic status (Casanova, 2009); belonging to a community, faith and belief have been transformed without disappearing (Hervieu-Léger, 2001). Social and health care has also undergone a continuous process of professionalisation, which has accelerated since the 1970s. Organisations had to adapt by hiring new staff or training former volunteers. Since the 1960s, mass labour immigration has changed the profile of the beneficiaries of charities and services, and then of the next generation of volunteers and professionals. Outside Europe, decolonisation clearly challenged the activities of European charities in the former colonies. Sensitivity to the fate of the 'Third World' was raised in European societies, and a shift towards humanitarian and then development work was initiated, in which faith-based organisations based in Europe continue to play an important role (Duriez, 2007). The conference will explore these many changes through four themes: the religious meaning of engagement, professionalisation, the relationship to otherness and the relationship to social change.

Speakers: Anne-Sophie Crosetti (Université libre de Bruxelles), Felix Deckx (KU Leuven), Claire Fredj (Université Paris-Nanterre), Silvia Inaudi (Università di Torino), David Kilgannon (University of Galway), Carmen M. Mangion (Birkbeck, University of London), Juliette Masquelier (Université libre de Bruxelles), Catherine Maurer (Université de Strasbourg), Els Minne (KU Leuven), Amélie Rabine (Université Paris 8), Yann Raison du Cleuziou (Université de Bordeaux), Anca Şincan (Institutul de Cercetari Socio-Umane Gheorghe Şincai) and Charlotte Walker-Said (City University of New-York).

Venue: CIERL Library, 17 avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels

Inscription: committed.workshop@ulb.be