Social Change, Religious Renewal, and the Transformation of Protestant Politics in the Department of the Gard, 1830-1852

The confessional polarization of society and politics was a frequently observed feature of the Gard in the nineteenth century. By midcentury, however, Protestant politics became more varied and began to shift toward more nationally characteristic forms of identification. These changes were a reflect...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:French historical studies 1994-04, Vol.18 (3), p.700-721
Main Author: Deming, James C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Calvinism
Catholicism
Churches
Communities
Faith
History
Pastors
Political protests
Political revolutions
Politics
Protestantism
Religion
Seances
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Summary:The confessional polarization of society and politics was a frequently observed feature of the Gard in the nineteenth century. By midcentury, however, Protestant politics became more varied and began to shift toward more nationally characteristic forms of identification. These changes were a reflection of tensions raised within the community by the effects of commercialization and industrialization, but also a result of the Réveil, a movement of religious renewal. This movement divided the Reformed population spiritually into the awakened and unawakened. It also transformed the Reformed church from a communal institution into a type of voluntary association through the assertion that Protestantism was a matter of personal faith and commitment, not of tradition or culture. This reconceptualization of the Reformed church further desacralized the Reformed community, easing the way for a more secular basis of political attitudes to emerge.
ISSN:0016-1071
1527-5493
DOI:10.2307/286689