ABSTRACT
The Christelijke Arbeidersbeweging (Christian Workers’ Movement) was one
of the most influential actors in the postwar debate on “good homes” in
Belgium.1 Compared to the contemporary efforts made by the national gov-
ernment and the cultural avant-garde to improve the nation’s housing culture,
it had developed a remarkably well-organized and effective programme of
“taste education.” In the postwar years the Christian Workers’ Movement
was coordinated by a national bureau, but it consisted of a cluster of relatively
autonomous sub-organizations.2 On the one hand, it included a series of edu-
cational and apostolic branches with separate organizations for men, women,
male and female youngsters in each major language community – Flanders
and Wallonia. On the other hand, there was a series of socioeconomic
branches, including the health insurance, the trade union, and the coopera-
tives, each organized on a national level.
