Batteries, Crosses, Solar Panels, and Global Sisterhood
Batteries, Crosses, Solar Panels, and Global Sisterhood
Although there is ongoing popular and academic interest in the ways globalization shapes contemporary social life, scholars know little about transnational organizations or how they influence members’ everyday lives and experiences on the ground. Even less is known about these processes within transnational religious organizations. This chapter explores the relationships between US and Congolese Catholic sisters who belong to the transnational Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, asking how members work together across boundaries of race, ethnicity, and economic development. Drawing on transnational social field and transnational network approaches, it considers the extent to which members orient their lives to both local and transnational communities. Social scientists have noted that the “center of gravity” within the Catholic Church is shifting from Europe and North America to Asia, Africa, and South America. In the wake of the Vatican II renewal process among religious orders, the number of Catholic sisters globally began a steep and rapid decline. Today Africa is one of only two continents in the world where women’s religious vocations continue to grow. This chapter considers what these transformations mean from the standpoint of women in the Global South.
Keywords: globalization, Catholic Church, Catholic sisters, African sisters, transnational social fields, transnational networks, Vatican II, religious vocations
Chicago Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.