Acteurs et mouvements sociaux - séance 5

07 Mars 2024, 14h30-16h30 

Transnational Networks of Catholic Lay Women (1945-1965)

Natalia NÚÑEZ BARGUEÑO 
(Universidad de Castilla la Mancha)
The World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations (WUCWO): Catholic International Experts in a Post-War and Early Cold War World*.
 

David BRYDAN (King's College)
Manos Unidas: Catholic Women as Global Activists in Francoist and post-Francoist Spain.
 

Marie-Emmanuelle CHESSEL (Sciences Po, CSO) Commentatrice / Commentator

The period following the Second World War witnessed a boom in transnational mobilisation among lay Catholic women. The post-war internationalist moment, and pontifical calls for Catholic women to participate in the re-Christianization of national and international life, expanded the public, intellectual and social roles available to lay women. In the newly formed international institutions and Catholic transnational organizations, women were able to act as international “experts”, participating in key debates and actions over post-war reconstruction and the early Cold War.
Similarly, on a national level, in countries like Francoist Spain, lay activism offered a platform for women to engage with pressing international issues, such as the politics of decolonization, international development and global inequality. The seminar will introduce this overlooked aspect of post-war transnational activism and the pre-history of the Second Vatican Council, exploring the origins and impact of transnational mobilization among lay Catholic women with a focus on the French and Spanish speaking worlds.

*This work is a presentation of Núñez Bargueño’s MASCA project TheoFem: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101108049

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