Abstract
The author of this article tries to point out, in the present fragmentation of the socio-religious movements which are at work in French Catholicism, the complex interplay of social, political and religious factors.
He thus proposes the first elements for an answer to the questions posed by some observers concerning the recent (selective and limited) migration of French Catholics towards socialism. How much importance should be given in the analysis to the type of social background from which the different movements of "left-oriented Christians" are re cruited ?
The author proceeds in three steps :
1. What are the socio-economical aspect of the divisions which are at work in French Catholicism ?
2. The genesis of the movement of the Chrétiens pour le socia lisme and the conflicts of tendencies therein are analysed through its conflicts with the Action Catholique Ouvrière.
3. The analysis of the relevant characteristics of these conflicts does not base itself upon ethical choices, but builds on the modes of negotiation used by the ACO (which is deve loping a "strategy of recognition") on the one hand, and the CPS (who are developing diverse practices of " sym bolic dissidence") on the other.