Decolonizing Christianity Religion and the End of Empire in France and Algeria

Decolonizing Christianity traces the dramatic transformation of Christianity from its position as the moral foundation of European imperialism to its role as a radical voice of political and social change in the era of decolonization. As Christians renegotiated their place in the emerging Third World, they confronted the consequences of racism and violence that Christianity had reinforced in European colonies. This book tells the story of Christians in Algeria who undertook a mission to 'decolonize the Church' and ensure the future of Christianity in postcolonial Algeria. But it also recovers the personal aspects of decolonization, as many of these Christians were arrested and tortured by the French for their support of Algerian independence. The consequences of these actions were immense, as the theological and social engagement of Christians in Algeria then influenced the groundbreaking reforms developing within global Christianity in the 1960s.

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.

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.