Decolonizing Christianity: Grassroots ecumenism in France and Algeria, 1940--1965

This dissertation, "Grassroots Ecumenism: Christianity and Decolonization in France and Algeria, 1940-1965" is the first major study of how French Protestant and Catholic engagement in the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962) reshaped Christianity in the modern world and influenced global religious movements like Ecumenical Movement and Vatican II. The moral questions that surfaced during the Algerian War, including the French military's use of torture, the repression of civilian populations, and debates about the legitimacy of the Algerian nationalist positions forced Christians across the world to rethink the role of Christianity in imperialism and its future in a postcolonial world. This dissertation examines the shifting dynamics of Christianity's role in the French empire, from the role that Christianity played in supporting the moral foundations for French colonialism in Algeria, to the ways in which Social Christianity, which emerged in France in the 1930s and 40s, undermined these same moral arguments, including the belief that French colonialism was both benevolent and the only means through which Christian interests could be protected in Algeria.;Using private and governmental archives from France, Switzerland, Algeria, and Tunisia, this dissertation argues that the Algerian War, the most brutal and violent conflict over decolonization in the French empire, was a testing ground for the decolonization of Christianity itself. It traces a group of French Christians who used Christian theology and morality to argue for social justice for colonized peoples, and even political independence. Although many of these Christians were arrested and tortured for their support of the Algerian population, they worked toward a decolonization of the church in Algeria by initiating a dialogue with Algerian Muslims and working with them to solve some of the grave social problems that were at the root of Algerian discontent. This project thus traces the 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, and the complex tensions that resulted as Christians attempted to renegotiate their place in the emerging Third World.