Creating a Feminist Religious Counterpublic
RLDS Feminists and Women's Ordination Advocacy in America, 1970-1985
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4791944 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David J Howlett (0000-0003-2184-4635, corresponding author), David Howlett (0000-0003-4532-7990), Nancy A Ro (0000-0001-7147-1000), Nancy Ro, Nancy Ross (0000-0001-6009-4123) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 220-247 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religion and American Culture A Journal of Interpretation (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1052-1151 • E-ISSN: 1533-8568 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/rac.2023.14 |
| OpenAlex | W4389440379 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 13 |
The 1970s witnessed an efflorescence of religious feminism in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, particularly around the issue of women's ordination. We pose a model for understanding this development-the formation of publics/counterpublics-and explore how it illuminates our case study. Drawing upon oral history interviews and archival sources, we document how RLDS women created independent publications, grassroots consciousness-raising groups, feminist classes and conferences, and Women-Church-inspired worship to reimagine priesthood within their church. We conclude that the lens of a counterpublic offers a capacious view of our topic, one capable of integrating both social movement theory and network theory. Furthermore, we suggest that the RLDS example featured in this essay is simply a manifestation of a larger late twentieth-century American "feminist religious counterpublic" formed across many religious denominations and groups that held a shared feminist social imaginary
Consciousness · Epistemology · Feminism · Grassroots · Media studies · Ordination · Political science · Sociology · Worship · Gender Studies · Law · Mormonism, Religion, and History · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |