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INTRODUCTIONThe political action of organized labor could be defined as the presence of unions in politics. But even if this presence may take different forms, one may say that it could be divided in two main categories : the partisan and the non-partisan political action. In addition to this, the non-partisan political action has two sub-groups which are the direct and the indirect non-partisan political action.The object of this paper is to show how the CNTU since its birth has practiced a non-partisan political action direct or indirect following the circumstances or the periods.THE CCCL AND THE POLITICAL ACTIONThe CCCL 1 does not want to accept any form of political partisanery in its organization and even forbids its President or Secretary General to have public commitments on politics.To prove this point allow me to quote two articles from « The Constitution and By-Laws of the CCCL, 1st edition, 1921 » :— art. III « The CCCL should never be affiliated to any political party ».— art. XXIX « Discussions of political partisanery will not be admitted in the confederal conventions ».But those decisions were misinterpreted by the other members and by the public. The choices made by the individuals were considered as those of the movement : the action of the individuals was identified to their union's. All of this led, in 1923, to a modification of the Constitution and article XXIX was replaced by article XXX which clearly separated the rights and duties of the movement itself from the individuals belonging to the movement.The CCCL did not modify its Constitution regarding political action until 1952.The attitude of the CCCL regarding political action could be summarized in 3 main points :a) In the first place, the CCCL does not see the ground of supporting a certain political party rather than another one.b) Regarding its members, the CCCL has always respected their own freedom.c) Being a representative movement, the CCCL wishes to have a role of watch-dog toward the government.In 1943, in Montreal, the CCL adopted an important resolution regarding political action. It decided to adopt the CCF as the political weapon of the workers. On the other hand, the TLC, in 1943 in Quebec City, decided to organize political action committees in order to allow local unions to play a more direct role in politics. Those two choices did not change the policies of the CCCL toward political action.We can therefore say that since its foundation, the CCCL has chosen to be entirely free from any political party. However the CCCL wishes to influence the government by a non-partisan political action in order to reach the main goal of unionism i.e. to defend and protect workers.THE POLITICAL ACTION OF THE CCCL (1949-1958)New AttitudeIn 1946, a new team was elected at the head of the CCCL and was immediately led to rethink the position of the Confederation toward political action for different reasons :1.—The decisions of the CCL and TLC toward their political action.2.—The anti-union attitude of the Government of Quebec.In fact the efficiency of the traditional position of the CCCL toward political action was called in question. So in 1949, it was decided that a committee of civic action should be created.This same committee became a year later the committee of political orientation. It was in the provincial election of July 1952 that this committee began a more direct action in politics by publishing a legislative program in 32 points. The committee went quite far in its action : for example were openly declared as enemies to unionism five candidates at the election.The CCCL was then accused of supporting a political party to the prejudice of the other. This accusation was discussed at the following convention in Shawinigan. In 1953, the committee publishes another paper entitled « Why the CCCL Interferes in Federal Politics ». The authors insisted on the great influence of the Federal Government on Canadian workers.It is to be noted it was the time of Duplessis regime, whose goals were quite different from those of the labor movement.The political action of the CCCL remains a non-partisan action but will work on two different levels. On the one hand, the committee will have the responsibility of giving the members a political education and on the other hand, it will have a direct action toward the government by supporting for election candidates who are thoughtful of the common good and responsive to the request of the labor movement.During the electoral campaign of 1956, the CCCL intensifies its political action. But the results of the campaign brought the old regime back and furthermore stronger than before.TransformationsIn 1956, one of the main events in the history of union organization in Canada happened : the merger of the TLC and of the CCL to create the Canadian Labour Congress. In 1959, in Winnipeg, a meeting was held to discuss the creation of a labor political party. Representatives of the CCCL were invited.This project of creation of a labor political party forced the CCCL to rethink its political action. Having always been opposed to this form of political action,the CCCL was not ready to reject the principle respected since its foundation. But a study of the problem was necessary and a readjustment possible.At the CCCL convention of 1959 in Quebec, major modifications were voted. It is still forbidden to the CCCL to be affiliated to a political party, but it can submit briefs to the governments, can study the effïciency of a political party, etc.This formula seems to give full freedom in the field of political action except for a partisan action. The most important step was to allow the President, and the Secretary general in the absence of the former, to have public commitments on politics on behalf of the CCCL.THE 1962 CONFRONTATION : CNTU - SOCIAL CREDITIn 1962, the CNTU decided to fight against the Social Credit Party because its philosophy was dangerous for the workers. Jean Marchand, then President of the CNTU, made many statements against this party and even confronted its leader on T.V. Those intervention of the President of the CNTU against the Social Credit during the electoral campaign brought up serious accusations from some members. He has been accused of violating the constitution of the CNTU by having done a partisan political action.Some other important changes were brought to the CNTU political action philosophy : the Confederal Bureau has been given the power of manifestating its preference, of denonciating or of declaring its neutrality toward a political party.After more than 40 years of existence, the CNTU had finally found a formula which gave all the possible lattitude for a non-partisan political action.CONCLUSIONAlways respecting the principle saying that union political action must not be partisan, the CNTU has found a formula by which its members, leaders, officers, its affiliated organizations and its Confederal Bureau remain entirely free regarding their political choice. The only restriction remaining is that these choice must never be against the general interests of the labor movement.( 1 ) Trade and Labour Congress of Canada : T.L.C. ; Canadian Congress of Labour : C.C.L. ; Canadian Labour Congress : C.L.C. ; Canadian and Catholic Confederation of Labour : C.C.C.L., which became Confederation of National Trade-Unions : C.N.T.U.

AbstractThe debate in the 1930s between E. Peterson and C. Schmitt on the theological-policy left an unresolved question that comes to the fore once again in postmodern pluralist societies. The new political theology of the theologian J.B. Metz, from Münster, reopened this debate by proposing throughout his work a political ethics as an ethics of social change. When he underestimates the polemical character of politics and the fragility of subjects whose identity has became precarious, Metz does indeed arrive at a critical theology but he remains uncertain concerning political invention, in the strict sense of the term, within the society. J. Milbank's opposition to this political theology does not render the question meaningless and simply remains a critical gesture proposing a counter ethics, a counter ontology, a counter kingdom by implementing narrative, ritual and social practices. A debate between the theology of J.B. Metz and the communalist thought of S. Hauerwas could perhaps confront the question of the coming into being of subjects capable of political invention in the complex societies of postmodernity.

AbstractThis article analyses the limits of John Rawls's interpretation of the political found into his "Law of Peoples". Considered as a mere extension of the political conception of liberal right and justice developed in his Theory of Justice and then amended in his Political Liberalism, this law of peoples broaden that conception into the realm of international relations while validating at the same time the universality in reach of its interpretation of the political. According to this author, insofar as the law of peoples relies upon a strategy which tend to brush aside the voicing of disagreements, antagonisms, and oppositions, this interpretation of the political which aim at the reconciliation of the common world around a consensus agreed by all the participants does not contribute much to the intelligibility of the problem J. Rawls's himself reckon political reflection to be confronted but leads instead to a strengthening of the status quo.

AbstractDuring the 20th century, Peterson became a seminal reference for those who were bent on separating theology and politics in Christianity. The conclusion of his most well-known work, entitled Monotheism as political problem, and published in 1935, invited truth to tell such a reading. And yet, a careful study of three articles written after the publication of his essay and the taking into account of biographical data (linked to Peterson's conversion to Roman Catholicism and to that Church's predicament in Germany during the interwar), suggest that the controversial thesis put forward in the 1935 essay would improved tremendously if it were qualified. When a political situation become tragic, the resort to a political Christian theology indeed seems legitimized.

AbstractThis article traces the history of the modern division between the private and public spheres in the context of an articulated state and civil society. This division continuously forced the organized public system (the sphere "said" private) to confirm its legitimacy in another sphere, public as well but "said" private (i. e. civil society). This division is postulated to be constitutive, in modern times, of a pluralistic democratic space. By refusing the modern private/public separation, marxism, the new left movements of the sixties, and more recently, feminism and postmodernism, are incapable of bringing their criticisms to pluralistic and democratic conceptions of politics. In fact, it is maintened that the criticism intended is often based on an erroneous conception of the meaning given by modern thinkers to this public/private division.

SummaryThe concepts of ethnie and nation have become so loaded with values and passions that it is necessary to define them in order to be able to employ them in sociological research. Ethnie designates an historical community, which is conscious of being unique and display the desire to remain so. But, contrary to nation, it does not necessarily have a political organization. A double reflection on the modern political nation is elaborated. The first is based on the legitimacy of the will of the people (French — or American — style nation). The other is based on ethnic and linguistic criteria (German style nation). It is important to go beyond these historical and ideological oppositions and propose a sociological definition of the modern nation, based on the process of political integration of populations, diversified in terms of their origins and their characteristics, around a shared political project.

Keywords: ethnie, nation, nationalité, nationalisme, ethnicité, intégration, politique, citoyens, pensée politique, volk, ethnie, nation, nationality, nationalism, ethnicity, integration, policy, citizen, political thought, volk, etnia, nación, nacionalidad, nacionalismo, etnicidad, integración, política, ciudadanos, pensamiento político, Volk

The political participation of the Islamists of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) is the result of a long historical process that goes back to the early 1980s, when former members of the Shabiba Islamiya (Islamic Youth) decided to break with the ideological principles of radical Islamism. The purpose of this study is to examine the transition of the Islamists of the PJD Islamists to reformism and political pragmatism using a socio-historical approach. The objective is to show how the PJD Islamists became moderate, and whether the PJD's political pragmatism has really framed the transition of the Shabiba Islamiya from the radical vision of society - Hakimiyya (God's sovereignty) - to a reformist vision by forming a political party. To do this, our study is based on interviews with leaders and ideologues of this with leaders and ideologists of this party. In addition, the study refers to a set of documents and political works defining both the ideology of this party and that of the Al-Adl wal-Ihssane (Justice and Benevolence) group. The latter is the largest Islamist group in Morocco, which, unlike the PJD, rejects any possibility of integration into the Moroccan political system.

Keywords: pragmatisme, radicalité politique, modération idéologique, la légalité, participation politique

AbstractThe creation of foreign policy in France is near the core of a definition of French national sovereignty and the regalian power. As such, it cannot be treated in the same way as other areas of public policy. Indeed, French foreign policy develops along its own path compared with the foreign policy of other countries and with the policy formation in domestic areas. France, unlike other countries, does not have a tradition of white papers in foreign affairs. This situation could be explained by the special place of foreign policy compared to that of other government policies. Control of the decision-making process is dispersed between a multitude of stakeholders. The absence of a white paper approach may explain particular analytical gaps. However French foreign policy will ultimately be forced to change, even converge, by the wider European context.