Lebret, interpreter of South America: a deciphered enigma and a constructed concept

Abstract Gaps and concerns stemming from the reflection on the social dimension of urban planning led to the decision of narrating Lebret’s story as an interpreter of South America. This is demonstrated by the body of documentary evidence. The starting point was the assumption that Lebret was a devout Catholic and member of the Dominican order aiming to promulgate social Catholicism in France in the early years of the Second World War. By using procedures involving parallelism, adjustments, authorship and analogy, it was possible to provide an analysis of the interpretation that Lebret had of South American, development and under-development. His understanding of places and their meanings were referenced in theories and paradigms connected to sociology, economics and the social doctrine of the Catholic Church. His interpretation of development in South American may not be consensual among historiographers, but has irrefutably contributed to the schooling of intellectuals, especially those on the Christian Left.