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Lay Women: International Experts and Theologians avant-la-lettre. Legacies and Entangled Histories (1945-1962)

Project description

Re-examining the role of lay women as international agents and thinkers

While many studies have examined the experiences of women, both lay and religious, during and after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), their pioneering role in the years leading up to the Council has been greatly overlooked. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the TheoFem project will highlight the significant contributions of European Catholic women as international agents, thinkers, and theologians from the end of World War II until the celebration of the Second Vatican Council (1945-1962). The project delves into the shared and transnational history of Belgium and Spain, with a specific focus on the contributions of Catholic lay women to international networks of care and thought. The goal is to reshape public perceptions of women in leadership roles, promote gender equality, and foster more inclusive European societies.

Objective

The overarching objective of this project is to demonstrate European Catholic lay women's vital contributions as international agents, thinkers and theologians avant-la-lettre, from the end of World War II up to the celebration of the Second Vatican Council (1945-1962). While several studies have dealt with lay (and religious) women during and after the Council, their pioneer role as intellectuals and international experts in the pre-conciliar years has significantly received less attention. The history of this period has mostly been written in strikingly national, secular and rather masculine terms. A crucial aspect of the period was the Church’s attempt to expand the ranks of lay International Catholic Organisations (ICOs). As a result of their engagement in shaping pastoral strategies, international policies and agenda setting, lay women in positions of leadership became experts, they travelled extensively, and gradually adopted ‘female’ forms of agency as a route into male-dominated arenas (theology, international relations and action) By paying particular attention to the entangled history of Belgium and Spain (both understood in their relationship to the wider Spanish and French speaking Catholic worlds), by adopting an interdisciplinary approach (political and social sciences, visual and intellectual cultures, theology, anthropology) and a gender perspective, the project will 1) systematically recover and establish a ‘genealogy’ of lay women's intellectual agency; 2) map and conceptualise their collective action and transnational networks; 3) illustrate the strategies used to consolidate communities of secular and religious knowledge (including alternative forms of governability); 4) visualise their legacies. In this manner the project aims to contribute to reconfigure public perceptions about women in positions of leadership, and to the promotion of gender equality and more reflective European societies.

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Topic(s)

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01

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Coordinator

KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 191 760,00
Address
OUDE MARKT 13
3000 LEUVEN
Belgium

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Region
Vlaams Gewest Prov. Vlaams-Brabant Arr. Leuven
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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