Introduction; 1. Christianity and French Algeria; 2. Christianity on trial: the battle to define Christian morality; 3. The metropolitans respond: the conflicts of politics and conscience; 4. The religious politics of independence; 5. Inventing postcolonial Christianity; Conclusion.
This book traces Christianity's change from European imperialism's moral foundation to a voice of political and social change during decolonization.
Darcie Fontaine is an assistant professor of history at the University of South Florida. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships to support her research in Europe and North Africa, including a Fulbright-IIE fellowship to France and multiple grants from the American Institute of Maghrib Studies. Her scholarship situates the history of modern France and its empire in a global perspective, and seeks to trace the long-term impact of colonialism and decolonization on a wide spectrum of actors, institutions, and ideas. She is currently completing a textbook on France and its empire from the eighteenth century to the present.
'Fontaine's monograph is clearly intended for historians of French
colonialism, but should be read by anyone concerned with the
development of global Christianity in the second half of the
twentieth century, ecumenicalism, Christian-Muslim relations, the
ethical and moral dilemmas facing Christians during politically
divisive times, and the ways in which Christianity has been and can
be appropriated for different purposes.' Bradley Rainbow Hale,
Fides et Historia
'Decolonizing Christianity is a most welcome addition to histories
of empire, religion, and politics. It is a must-read for historians
of France and Algeria, scholars of the new imperial history, and
social and intellectual historians interested in contextualizing
Christianity.' Minayo Nasiali, French History
'Decolonizing Christianity is a detailed and well-researched book,
which clearly succeeds in demonstrating the importance of
Christianity to debates about Algerian independence on a whole host
of levels. Its range is, quite simply, impressive: it moves
seamlessly between Algeria, France, Vatican II and the World
Council of Churches, covering Catholics and Protestants, metropole
and periphery, procolonial and anti-colonial Christians. Its
scholarship is equally strong: the large quantity of archival
evidence is supported by twenty oral interviews, and extensive
reading of the relevant anglophone and francophone historiography.'
Sam Brewitt-Taylor, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History
'Darcie Fontaine's Decolonizing Christianity examines the history
of Christianity in colonial Algeria, and the ramifications of
decolonization on a local and global scale. It alternates between
close historical details, as it narrates the lives of individual
Christians living in Algeria, and broad theoretical discussion, as
it shows how decolonization drove reforms of 'global Christianity'
in the twentieth century. Balancing a challenging combination of
minute detail and broad debate, this work paints a compelling and
well-articulated portrait of decolonization and Christianity that
will be of interest to a wide range of readers.' Erin Twohig,
Contemporary French Civilization
'Decolonizing Christianity demonstrates the deep ties between
religion and politics in France and its North African colony, as
well as the reciprocal nature of theological debates across the
Mediterranean. But if the book adds to a growing literature on
religion and decolonisation, it makes an equally important
intervention into the history of Algerian independence. Fontaine is
careful not to recreate a totalising narrative of Christians'
engagement in the war; in so doing, she offers a more complex and
pluralistic history of Christian activism, the broader settler
community, and the young Algerian state's attitude toward its
religious minorities.' Terrence G. Peterson, The Journal of North
African Studies
'In tracing the relationship between religion and politics across a
broad timeframe while simultaneously connecting developments in
Algeria to those within metropolitan France and global
Christianity, Fontaine draws together geographical and
chronological frames of analysis usually kept separate. This allows
her to fulfil her stated objective of 'provincializing
Christianity' without decontextualising it. However, the most
compelling sections of the book are the ones that tell the story on
the ground in Algeria. This reflects the archive-based fieldwork
and oral histories Fontaine undertook in Algeria, which add much to
her original and engaging study.' Clare Eldridge, Modern &
Contemporary France
'The book's merits are its details and its descriptions of a wide
array of Christian organizations. The author's archival research is
especially commendable.' Phillip. C. Naylor, The American
Historical Review
'Decolonizing Christianity offers a compelling look at the decades
surrounding Algeria's independence that makes excellent use of
private Algerian archives and contributes to a growing body of
literature on Christianity's encounter with the end of empire, at
an institutional and individual level.' Naomi Davidson, The Journal
of Modern History
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