The Troubled Origins of the Italian Catholic Labor Movement, 1878-1914 / Sándor Agócs.

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Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter 1: Philosophy by Decree: Leo XIII and the Thomistic Revival; Chapter 2: The Right to Property Sanctioned by Natural Law; The Defense of Private Property; The Social Functions of Property; The Tutelage Extended to Working People by the Upper Classes; Chapter 3: Inequality of Rights and Power Proceeds from the Very Author of Nature; The Hierarchical Ordering of Society; The Rejection of the Principle of Equality; The Permanence of Classes on the Social Landscape and the Paradoxical Objection to Conflict among Classes

Chapter 4: Fraternity and Angelic CharityCatholic Corporative Doctrine; Italian Catholic Congresses and the Mixed Union; Foreign Models and the Italians' Choice; The State as Moderator of the Affairs of Society; Chapter 5: The Spirit of Revolutionary Change; The Encyclical Rerum Novarum and the Appearance of the Concept of the Simple Union; The Fasci Movement in Sicily and the Social Activism of the Clergy; Class Conflict as a Fact of Life; The 1901 Wave of Strikes and the Reaction of Leo XIII; Toniolo and the Ascendancy of the Simple Union; Chapter 6: To Restore All Things in Christ

The Reorganization of Catholic Action under Pius X and the Suppression of Democratic TendenciesThe Ban on the Social Activism of the Clergy; Doctrinal Adjustments; Neutrality in Labor Conflict; The Alliance between Wealth and the Altar; Chapter 7: Aversion to the Higher Classes Is Contrary to the True Spirit of Christian Charity; Catholics Confront Socialism; Catholic Labor in the Industrial Sector; Rural to Urban Migration; Pastoral Work among the Migrants; The Aversion to the Industrial Working Class; Chapter 8: He Who Is a Saint Cannot Disagree with the Pope

The Vatican Attempts to Reintroduce the Mixed UnionThe Activists' Refusal; Chapter 9: Religion, the Best Custodian of Justice; The Landless Peasants and the Catholic Labor Movement; The Activists Press for Land Reform; Nonunion Economic Institutions; Chapter 10: The Pope Will Remain Silent; The Religious Nature of Catholic Organizations and the Issues of Lay Autonomy; The Reinforcement of Clerical Control over Catholic Action; The Encyclical Singulari quadam and the Last Battle of the Papacy of Pius X; Conclusions; Notes; References; Index

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In his book, Sándor Agócs explores the conflicts that accompanied the emergence of the Italian Catholic labor movement. He examines the ideologies that were at work and details the organizational forms they inspired. During the formative years of the Italian labor movement, Neo-Thomism became the official ideology of the church. Church leadership drew upon the central Thomistic principal of caritas, Christian love, in its response to the social climate in Italy, which had become increasingly charged with class consciousness and conflict. Aquinas's principles ruled out class struggle as contrary to the spirit of Christianity and called for a symbiotic relationship among the various social strata. Neo-Thomistic philosophy also emphasized the social functions of property, a principle that demanded the paternalistic care and tutelage of the interests of working people by the wealthy. In applying these principles to the nascent labor movement, the church's leadership called for a mixed union (misto), whose membership would include both capitalists and workers. They argued that this type of union best reflected the tenets of Neo-Thomistic social philosophy. In addition, through its insistence on the misto, the church was also motivated by an obsessive concern with socialism, which it viewed as a threat, and by a fear of the working classes, which it associated with socialism, which it viewed as a threat, and by a fear of the working classes, which it associated with socialism. In pressing for the mixed union, therefore, the church leadership hoped not only to realize Neo-Thomistic principles, but also to defuse class struggle and prevent the proletariat from becoming a viable social and political force. Catholic activists, who were called upon to put ideas into practice and confronted social realities daily, learned that the "mixed" unions were a utopian vision that could not be realized. They knew that the age of paternalism was over and that neither the workers not the capitalists were interested in the mixed union. In its stead, the activists urged for the "simple" union, an organization for workers only. The conflict which ensued pitted the bourgeoisie and the Catholic hierarchy against the young activists. Sándor Agócs reveals precisely in what way Catholic social thought was inadequate to deal with the realities of unionization and why Catholics were unable to present a reasonable alternative.

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