The Institute of Corporation and Social Studies under the Vichy regime: a laboratory for corporatist doctrine.

Paradoxically, the abolition of the guilds-"corporations" in 18th c. parlan ce-by the French Revolution engendered the "corporatist idea", which flouri shed during the 19th c., thickened in the wake of the Russian Revolution an d the Great Depression, and reached its zenith under Vichy. This article ex plores the trajectory of the Institute of Corporation and Social Studies (I .E.C.S.) which was charged, according to its very young director, M. Bouvie r-Ajam, with the task of preparing. perhaps even establishing the corporate system, socio-institutional keystone in the arch of the National Revolutio n. Directly inspired by an idealized vision of a protracted Old Regime, Chr istian, coherent, and harmonious, this corporatism nevertheless boasted its modernity and its relevance. Bouvier-Ajam exegesis of the doctrine, howeve r, aroused opposition within the I.E.C.S. and Petain's circle. The I.E.C,S. was dissolved just before the Liberation, which interned Bouvier-Ajam for a year. Repudiating the corporatist gospel, Bouvier-Ajam became a communist , frequented the leaders of the P.C.F., and joined the Centre d'Etudes et R echerches Marxistes. He distanced himself from the party toward the end of his career when, as a best-selling historian, he tenaciously sought electio n to the French Academy, robustly supported by the Duke of Levis-Mirepoix. who had served on the patronage committee of the I.E.C.S.