Bernard Charbonneau (November 28, 1910 – April 28, 1996) was a French writer who authored about twenty books and numerous articles, published in La Gueule Ouverte, Foi et Vie, La République des Pyrénées. An apolitical and independent thinker, he is considered to be a major inspiration for the various French ecological movements. His name is regularly mentioned by French academics. as well French green party leaders. The underlying idea inspiring his books and articles is that "the link that attaches individual persons to society is so strong that, even in the so called 'individualistic society', people struggle to exercise the critical thinking needed to resist mass trends, and end up readily consenting to the annihilation of what they cherish most: their freedom". In the 1930s, he associates economic development to a form of dictatorship and becomes recognized as a pioneer in political ecology. Skeptical about all forms of

partisanship A partisan is a committed member of a political party or army. In multi-party systems, the term is used for persons who strongly support their party's policies and are reluctant to compromise with political opponents. A political partisan is no ...

, including in the area of

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, he lays out the foundation of a new type of society based on personal experience, in rupture with 20th century most accepted ideologies. He shares many of the

personalist Personalism is an intellectual stance that emphasizes the importance of human persons. Personalism exists in many different versions, and this makes it somewhat difficult to define as a philosophical and theological movement. Friedrich Schleierm ...

views of his six decade old friend

Jacques Ellul Jacques Ellul (; ; January 6, 1912 – May 19, 1994) was a French philosopher, sociologist, lay theologian, and professor who was a noted Christian anarchist. Ellul was a longtime Professor of History and the Sociology of Institutions on t ...

regarding technological progress, which they mostly see as a source of conformism and a threat to freedom.

Biography

Charbonneau was born in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

in 1910 to a bourgeois family from Lot et Garonne. His father was

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and his mother

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The life in a large city quickly made Young Charbonneau feel oppressed. From his own admission, he was an average student. He obtained a baccalaureat in French literature and attended the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Ta ...

to study history and geography. At the age of 24, he started his teaching career and received

agrégation In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''professe ...

the following year. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he preferred to leave town and settle in the countryside, skipping the opportunity to further his academic achievements in a large city. He accepted a teaching position in a small normal school in

Lescar Lescar (; oc, Lescar) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. Lescar is the site of the Roman city known variously as Benearnum, Beneharnum or Civitas Benarnensium, the lo ...

, near Pau, in the

Pre-Pyrenees The Pre-Pyrenees are the foothills of the Pyrenees. Description As a mountainous system the Pre-Pyrenees are part of the Pyrenees. They run parallel to the main mountain range in a west to east direction. On the French side the Pyrenees's slop ...

(currently Lycee Jacques Monod). He stayed there until he retired. He produced a strong impression on his students. He enjoyed the proximity to nature and lived a spartan life near the Gaves de Pau then

Oloron Oloron-Sainte-Marie (; oc, Auloron e Senta Maria; eu, Oloroe-Donamaria) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Aquitaine), southwestern France. History The town was founded by the ...

. Charbonneau died in 1996 of

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

in the hospital of Saint Palais. He is buried on his property in "Le Boucau" in

Saint-Pé-de-Léren Saint-Pé-de-Léren is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 546 communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques depar ...

. On his grave, one can read this adapted citation from the

book of Ruth The Book of Ruth ( he, מגילת רות, ''Megilath Ruth'', "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is included in the third division, or the Writings (Ketuvim), of the Hebrew Bible. In most Christian canons it is treated as one of the ...

: "wherever you go, I'll go; wherever you stay, I'll stay and your God will be my God." After his death, his wife, Henriette Louise Daudin took care of publishing his unpublished writings. She died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

in December 2015. Charbonneau has had four children: Simone, Juliette, Catherine and Martine. In 2006, the personal archives of Charbonneau were transferred to the library of the

Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux, also known as Sciences Po Bordeaux, is a French grande école located on the university campus of Pessac, Bordeaux. It is attached to the University of Bordeaux. Established in 1948, Sciences Po Bordeau ...

Thoughts and life achievements

Charbonneau started various discussion groups, some with

who was his friend for his entire life, with the aim to talk and think about the changes resulting from scientific and technical progress. "As young adults, Ellul and his friend Charbonneau already had the intuition of what would be the architecture of their entire works. Their works were parallel if not common. If, unlike Ellul's, Charbonneau's work was not fully known to the public at the time, Ellul knew exactly how much he owed to Charbonneau. Ellul admits that without his friend who was a genius and taught him how to think, he would never have understood the technical society phenomenon" explains Patrick Troude-Chastenet". Jacques_Ellul_(cropped)

Following the creation by

Emmanuel Mounier Emmanuel Mounier (; ; 1 April 1905 – 22 March 1950) was a French philosopher, theologian, teacher and essayist. Biography Mounier was the guiding spirit in the French personalist movement, and founder and director of '' Esprit'', the magazine ...

of the magazine Esprit in 1932, Charbonneau decided to join the French

movement and renamed his group "le ''groupe personaliste du Sud-Ouest''". Charbonneau was careful about not confining his group in pure theories but making it experience personalism in practice. He took his friends in long hikes in Galicia, the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, in the Spanish Pyrenees as well as in the

Aspe valley The Aspe Valley is a valley in the French part of the Pyrenees, department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Geography It is one of the three valleys located in the historic region of upper Béarn, along with the Ossau Valley to the east and Baré ...

and in

. Between 1940 and 1947, Charbonneau designed the structure of his work and wrote a voluminous book, entitled ''Par la force des choses'', whose content announced the twenty or so books that would follow. His analysis of the contradictions in the world led to the anticipation of something worse than political totalitarianism: social totalitarianism resulting from the unstoppable technological progress.Based on the analysis of the social and political evolution he witnessed in the 1930s and in the 1940s, he was able to anticipate issues that were later recognized as crucial in society. He noted the problems resulting from ever more technocratic social, political and ecological spheres, from State propaganda and

mass communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large segments of the population. It is usually understood for relating to various forms of media, as its technologies are used for the dissemination o ...

, from the move from

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

and

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...

and from the liquidation of traditional farming, among other factors. He was not in a position to communicate his thoughts as a whole and therefore tried to expose it in details in separate books. His books ''l'Etat'' and ''Je fus'' are the two major cornerstones of his work, previously announced in ''Par la force des choses''. He could not find any editors to publish them so he used a spirit duplicator to distribute copies to a close circle of friends. Those two books would eventually be published some 50 years later. Charbonneau resumed the analysis of the industrial society that he had started before the war under a book named ''Pan se meurt''. There again, he could not find any editor. He waited 20 years before

Editions Gallimard Edition may refer to: * Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies * Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run * Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text * Edition Recor ...

published his book, under a renamed title: ''Le Jardin de Babylone''. His analysis of the chaotic effects of technological and industrial progress were published in 1973 under the title ''Le système et le chaos''. His thoughts on the contradictions of the liberal conception of freedom were published in 2002 under the title ''Prométhée réenchaîné''.

Bibliography

Books published prior to Charbonneau's death

* ''L’État'', édition ronéotypée (à compte d'auteur), 1949. Economica, Paris, 1987. Réimpression 1999 * ''Teilhard de Chardin, prophète d'un âge totalitaire'', éditions Denoël, Paris, 1963 (épuisé) * ''Le Paradoxe de la culture'', Denoël, Paris, 1965. Réédité en 1991 dans ''Nuit et jour'' * ''Célébration du coq'', Éditions Robert Morel, Haute-Provence, 1966 (épuisé) * ''Dimanche et lundi'', Denoël, Paris, 1966 (épuisé) * ''L'Hommauto'', Denoël, Paris, 1967. Réédité en 2003 chez le même éditeur * ''Le Fils de l'Homme et les enfants de Dieu'', édition ronéotypée (à compte d'auteur), 1968. * ''Le Jardin de Babylone'', Gallimard, Paris, 1969. Éditions de l'Encyclopédie des Nuisances, 2002 * ''Prométhée réenchaîné'' édition ronéotypée (à compte d'auteur), 1972. Éditions de La Table Ronde, Paris, 2001 * ''Le Système et le chaos. Critique du développement exponentiel'', Anthropos, Paris, 1973. 2^e édition : Economica, Paris, 1990 . 3^e édition : Médial éditions, novembre 2012 . * ''Tristes campagnes'', Denoël, Paris, 1973 . Réédition chez Le Pas de côté en 2013 . * ''Notre table rase'', Denoël, Paris, 1974 * ''Vu d'un finisterre'', édition ronéotypée (à compte d'auteur), 1976 * ''Le plus et le moins'', édition ronéotypée (à compte d'auteur), 1978 * ''Le Feu vert'', Karthala, Paris, 1980. Parangon, Lyon, 2009. trans. ''The Green Light: a self-critique of the ecological movement'', Bloomsbury, 2018. * ''Je fus. Essai sur la liberté'', Imprimerie Marrimpouey, Pau, 1980. Opales, Bordeaux, 2000 * ''Une seconde nature'', édité à compte d'auteur, Imprimerie Marrimpouey, Pau, 1981. Médial éditions, novembre 2012. * ''La propriété c'est l'envol'', édition ronéotypée (à compte d'auteur), 1984 * ''La société médiatisée'', édition ronéotypée (à compte d'auteur), 1985 * ''Ultima Ratio'', édition ronéotypée (à compte d'auteur), 1986. Édité en 1991 dans ''Nuit et jour'' * ''Nuit et jour'', (compilation de ''Le paradoxe de la culture'' et ''Ultima ratio'') Economica, Paris, 1991 * ''Sauver nos régions'', Le Sang de la Terre, Paris, 1991 * ''L'esprit court les rues'', édition ronéotypée (à compte d'auteur), 1992 * ''Les chemins de la liberté'', édition ronéotypée (à compte d'auteur), 1994

Books published after Charbonneau's death

* ''Il court, il court le fric…'', Opales, Bordeaux, 1996 * ''Un Festin pour Tantale'', Le Sang de la Terre, Paris, 1996. Réédité en 2001 * ''Comment ne pas penser'', Opales, Bordeaux, 2004 * ''Bien aimer sa maman'', Opales, Bordeaux, 2006 * ''Finis Terrae'', À plus d'un titre, 2010 * ''Le Changement'', Le Pas de côté, 2013 * ''Nous sommes révolutionnaires malgré nous. Textes pionniers de l'écologie politique'' (avec

). Recueil de quatre textes datant des années 1930. Le Seuil, 2014 * ''Lexique du verbe quotidien'' (recueil d'articles publiés dans les années 1950), Heros-Limite Editions, 2016 * ''L'Homme en son temps et en son lieu'' (rédigé en 1960), Rn éditions, 2017 * ''Le totalitarisme industriel'', (recueil d'articles parus dans ''La Gueule ouverte'' et ''Combat nature''), l'échappée, 2018, *
Quatre témoins de la liberté
' (inédit, rédigé vers 1990), R&N éditions, 2019.

Forewords

* ''La Fin du paysage'' de Maurice Bardet, Anthropos, Paris, 1972

Unpublished works

A number of Charbonneau's writings have still not be published to this day. There exists a bibliography of Charbonneau on the website of the Association Internationale Jacques Ellul

Articles

Bernard Charbonneau has published a large number of articles, most notably in ''La Gueule ouverte'' (from 1972 to 1977), ''La République des Pyrénées'' (from 1977 to 1983) and ''Combat Nature'' (from 1980 to 1996). Here are two important articles written in the 1930s, where Charbonneau explains and lays out the foundation of his thoughts: * ''Directives pour un manifeste personnaliste'', 1935 (co-written with

, available in les ''Cahiers Jacques-Ellul'' nº 1, « Les années personnalistes », 2003) and in ''Nous sommes révolutionnaires malgré nous. Textes pionniers de l'écologie politique'' (with

) * ''Le sentiment de la nature, force révolutionnaire'', 1937, re-published in 2014 in ''Nous sommes révolutionnaires malgré nous. Textes pionniers de l'écologie politique'' (with

)..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charbonneau, Bernard 1910 births 1996 deaths Aphorists Anarchists Anarchist writers Anti-capitalists Anti-consumerists Anti-fascists Anti-Stalinist left Critics of Marxism Degrowth advocates Environmental philosophers Environmental writers French environmentalists Green anarchists Green thinkers Philosophers of science Philosophers of technology Political philosophers Simple living advocates Writers from Bordeaux 20th-century French non-fiction writers