Any historian or political scientist would spend hours discussing the concept of fraternité and how it has shaped our thinking in the last 230 years or so. The motto liberté, égalité, fraternité owes its origin to the French Revolution and eventually became the motto of France. However, the concept of fraternité goes back much further than the French Revolution of 1789.

If we were to use the English translation for the word, ‘brotherhood’, I do not believe it captures the same meaning. In any case, the word ‘brotherhood’, when used in a certain context, has certain undertones which are undesirable.

It has been used to refer to certain organisations which have been described as terrorist. Having said this, there are several instances where the word ‘brother’ has very positive connotations.

One of the ideas connected to fraternité  is solidarity, which is one of the fundamental principles of the European Union.

This is because the word attaches more importance to moral obligations rather than to rights, and to a sense of community rather than to individuality. Liberté and égalité, on the other hand, are both linked to rights.

One may ask whether this week’s contribution is an exercise in linguistics. It is not. I have given this background to get to the point where we need to consider the word fraternité, and its associate, solidarity, in an economic framework.

Solidarity derives from moral values and is aimed at alleviating poverty and building social cohesion. However, solidarity can only happen if there is a willingness on the part of individuals and, collectively, as governments. There needs to be solidarity among individuals, among states and between generations.

There needs to be solidarity among individuals, among states and between generations

From an economic perspective, fraternité and solidarity mean that businesses put their money where their mouth is, when they speak of social responsibility. It goes beyond giving the odd donation here and there for charitable purposes (which are always useful and more than welcome) but it also involves operating transparently and ethically. It means not harming the environment. It means regarding one’s employees fairly for the work they do. It also means good corporate governance in full accordance with legislation.

We can no longer have economic policies and decisions that end up, willingly or unwillingly, favouring the few. We need to go beyond using the gross domestic product as the only yardstick with which to measure economic growth. We need to take active steps to reduce market failure as, in certain areas, the free market cannot be seen as the solution to all market situations.

In my opinion, the encyclical Fratelli Tutti of Pope Francis, published three weeks ago, gives the concept of fraternité a new dimension. It is not a battle cry for a revolution. However, it challenges our thinking on the way a national economy and the global economy needs to be managed. We need a new economic order because the current one has proven to fall short once, twice, three times over in addressing economic crises in the long term.

Capital can no longer be considered as the primary factor of production but it is at par with two other factors, land and entrepreneurship, with labour having supremacy over the other three. This will start to give more substance to the concept of fraternité.

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