Abstract
My paper considers the decline of Christianly in France and its possible consequences for the future of democracy. It also calls into question the viability of any society without the contribution of the unifying axis of a religion. Émile Durkheim infers that the sacralization of the social bond in collective religious feeling constitutes a necessary foundation for any society. According to him, religion establishes a higher principle of community: “All the great social institutions are born from religion. It has engendered everything that is essential in society.” My aim is to examine the relation between Christianity and the development of democracy considering Durkheim, Chateaubriand, and Tocqueville, from a historical perspective, and through the more recent work of Marcel Gauchet and Emmanuel Todd. Is a society viable without the unifying axis of a religion? What impact can the current decline of Christianity in France and Western Europe have on the future of democracy?
Presenters
Eric Touya De MarenneProfessor, Languages, Literatures and Interdisciplinary Studies, Clemson University, South Carolina, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
CHRISTIANITY, DEMOCRACY, RELIGION, POLITICS, SOCIETY
