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Empire religiosity

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This book examines Roman Catholic female missions within the overlapping ambits of colonial and postcolonial India.
  • 23 June 2026
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Winner of the Triennial Distinguished Book Award (2022–25) from the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, this volume offers the first systematic account of Roman Catholic female missionaries in colonial and postcolonial India. It reveals their distinctive forms of activism, shaped both by a resistant Protestant raj and by patriarchal structures within their own church. These women hid during the Great Revolt of 1857, worked in Lock Hospitals, followed Jesuits into experimental tribal communities, and served elites in hill stations, while also being drawn into the eugenic and child-rescue practices of empire. Their educational and social outreach created new geographies of race and gender that enabled their continued presence after 1947. Their experiences fostered awareness of the complex semiotics of East–West exchange and inform how their activism now engages trafficked girls and modern-day slavery.
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Price: $36.95
Pages: 304
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Series: Studies in Imperialism
Publication Date: 23 June 2026
ISBN: 9781526197962
Format: Paperback
BISACs: Gender studies: women and girls, Colonialism and imperialism, History of religion
REVIEWS Icon

'Allender modifies the critique of postcolonial thought in ways that are truly refreshing'
Ana Jelnikar, Anthropological Notebooks

'Empire Religiosity builds on Tim Allender’s excellent track record of detailed research into the history of education... This is a compelling story, beautifully written, conveyed with clarity and compassion towards both the women themselves and the girls who received education.'
History of Education Journal

'Empire Religiosity is an important contribution to the study of Catholic missions in India, and its detailed archival work is commendable.'
Journal of Religious History

'Empire Religiosity: Convent Habits in Colonial and Postcolonial India is a nuanced and insightful examination of how religion operated as a lived, embodied practice within colonial and postcolonial contexts.'

'Overall, Empire Religiosity offers a nuanced understanding of how religion, gender, and empire were lived and experienced. Allender’s focus on everyday practices makes this book a valuable contribution to colonial history, gender studies, and postcolonial scholarship.'
Ankit Sharma

'Empire Religiosity is an important contribution to the study of Catholic missions in India, and its detailed archival work is commendable.'
Daniel Michon, Journal of Religious History

Tim Allender is Professor and Chair of History and Curriculum at the University of Sydney

Introduction
1 Calcutta’s colonial religious space and the arrival of Loreto
2 Finding Indian connections
3 New convent domains, 1848–1913
4 Tribal domains and imperial entanglements
5 Learning elites and cultural chasms
6 Morapai, orphans and the Sunderbunds
7 Image vistas and transition to an independent India, 1904–62
8 Poverty liminalities and new literacy, 1930–70
9 Sealdah and the outreach of Sister Cyril Mooney
Conclusion
Index