| Women of Faith and Religious Identity in Fin-de-Siècle France Subjects: Women -- Religious life -- France; Women and religion -- France; Identification (Religion); Identity (Psychology) -- Religious aspects; In this unique study, Machen explores a moment of intense religious upheaval and transformation in France between 1880 and 1920. In these pre-World War I years, a powerful Catholic community was pitted against equally powerful anticlerical members of the French Third Republic. During this time, women became increasingly involved in faith-based organizations, engaging in social and political action both to expand women's rights and to ensure that religion remained part of the public debate about France's identity. By representing their faith communities as modern, progressive, and in some cases democratic, women positioned themselves to help guide a modernizing France. Emily Machen is associate professor of history at the University of Northern Iowa. |