Paternalist Rule as Social Retention Glue

“How can it be explained that from 1945 to 1970, everyone believed in this paternalism from another era? What is the mystery of its success? Isn’t it surprising that, unlike François Michelin who led a monastic life among his employees, Boussac managed, from a distance and with just an annual visit to his factories, to maintain a level of devotion and loyalty unique in the history of French industry, which withstood all the upheavals of recent years? This feat can be explained by the perfect symbiosis that existed between Boussac and his social director, Jean-Marie Compas. There lies the key to this paternalism, successful because it had a genuine face.”

“The idea of “paternalism from baptism to the grave” was, long before him, the work of great French industrial families, of Protestant belief, such as the Schneider and Wendel, or Catholic, like Peugeot and Michelin, who relied on Christian faith to practice an active social policy. Boussac’s social work takes a different path, in the sense that it is not inspired by religious ethics, but solely by the generosity of the boss.”