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Higgs, Eleanor Tiplady 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0733-2924
(2024)
The YWCA of the USA ‘In Service for the Girls of the World’, 1947–1985.
Women's Studies International Forum, 105.
p. 102925.
doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2024.102925
Abstract
Before mid-century, the Young Women's Christian Association of the USA (Y-US) was complicit with global northern imperial projects, as its work with women across national borders was characterised by an ethos of ‘imperial maternalism’. Applying Serene Khader's (2019) analysis of imperialism in global northern feminisms shows that Y-US's approach to ‘overseas’ work was ‘missionary’ in its use and promotion of ‘western’ values and strategies. Although Y-US inevitably worked within ‘asymmetrical power relations’ (Grewal & Kaplan, 2000, para.4), in the 1970s its approach shifted as it began to recognise these imbalances. By the 1980s, Y-US's ‘global’ programmes sought out women's context-specific knowledge to identify and critique structural inequalities and US imperialism, characteristic of ‘transnational feminist’ ethic. The contribution of Y-US to the YWCA movement was more complex, and positive, than a perpetuation of cultural imperialism. In its national policy and project planning and evaluations, Y-US continued until the 1980s to apply mixture of missionary and transnational feminist lenses to understand its role and responsibilities as a member of the worldwide YWCA movement, and to grapple with the implications of US power on the world stage.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Article Type: | Article |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Imperialism; Power; Transnational feminism; United States; YWCA |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity E History America > E151 United States (General) H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman H Social Sciences > HS Societies secret benevolent etc H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races |
| Divisions: | Schools and Research Institutes > School of Arts, Culture and Environment |
| Depositing User: | Eleanor Higgs |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Sep 2026 11:29 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Sep 2026 11:38 |
| URI: | https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/16543 |
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