Reconfiguring religious and political aspirations at the local level: Environmental awareness and the legitimization of the cultural petty bourgeoisie in rural areas

This article examines the emergence of environmental concerns within a rural community and their impact on the local political order. It analyzes the ways in which environmental awareness was promoted by Christians who had broken away from the Church, had been socialized within one of its sub-communities, and had been exposed to post-1968 social and environmental movements. It highlights the influence of their religious heritage on the forms taken by this advocacy work, carried out from the 1970s onward through a community center whose activities aimed at the “development” and “emancipation” of the populations it served. Within this working-class local setting, the social and political legitimacy of its founding figures—representatives of the cultural petty bourgeoisie—was established. While the institutionalization of environmental policies provided resources that strengthened their prestige and local influence, it also contributed to the community center’s gradual detachment from the local community and its original grassroots anchoring. Ultimately, while seeking to capture the links between religious heritage and the construction of political and social aspirations, this article analyzes how the emergence of environmental concerns contributes to the reconfiguration of social and political relations in rural areas.