Christian Imperial Feminism: White Protestant Women and the Consecration of Empire (North American Religions)

By: null Gale L. Kenny

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Synopsis: Illuminates how white American Protestant women embraced a racially specific version of socialinclusiveness that centered themselves as the normAmidst the global instability of the early twentieth century, white Christian American women embracedthe idea of an “empire of Christ” that was racially diverse, but which they believed they were uniquelyqualified to manage. America’s burgeoning power, combined with women’s rising roles within thechurch, led to white Protestant women adopting a feminism rooted in religion and imperialism.Gale L. Kenny examines this Christian imperial feminism from the women’s missionary movement tocreate a Christian world order. She shows that this Christian imperial feminism marked a break from anearlier Protestant world view that focused on moral and racial purity and in which interactions amongraces were inconceivable. This new approach actually prioritized issues like civil rights and racialintegration, as well as the uplift of women, though the racially diverse world Christianity it aspired towas still to be rigidly hierarchically ordered, with white women retaining a privileged place as guardians.In exposing these dynamics, this book departs from recent scholarship on white evangelical nationalismto focus on the racial politics of white religious liberalism. Christian Imperial Feminism adds a necessarylayer to our understanding of religion, gender, and empire.