A half century after its founding in London in 1844, the Young Men's
Christian Association (YMCA) became the first NGO to effectively push a
modernization agenda around the globe. Soon followed by a sister
organization, the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), founded in
1855, the Y movement defined its global mission in 1889. Although their
agendas have been characterized as predominantly religious, both the
YMCA and YWCA were also known for their new vision of a global civil
society and became major agents in the worldwide dissemination of modern
"Western" bodies of knowledge.
The YMCA's and YWCA's "secular" social work was partly rooted in the
Anglo-American notions of the "social gospel" that became popular during
the 1890s. The Christian lay organizations' vision of a "Protestant
Modernity" increasingly globalized their "secular" social work that
transformed notions of science, humanitarianism, sports, urban
citizenship, agriculture, and gender relations. Spreading Protestant
Modernity shows how the YMCA and YWCA became crucial in circulating
various forms of knowledge and practices that were related to this
vision, and how their work was co-opted by governments and rival NGOs
eager to achieve similar ends.
The studies assembled in this collection explore the influence of the
YMCA's and YWCA's work on highly diverse societies in South, Southeast,
and East Asia; North America; Africa; and Eastern Europe. Focusing on
two of the most prominent representative groups within the Protestant
youth, social service, and missionary societies (the so-called
"Protestant International"), the book provides new insights into the
evolution of global civil society in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, and its multifarious, seemingly secular, legacies for today's
world.
Spreading Protestant Modernity offers a compelling read for those
interested in global history, the history of colonialism and
decolonization, the history of Protestant internationalism, and the
trajectories of global civil society. While each study is based on
rigorous scholarship, the discussion and analyses are in accessible
language that allows everyone from undergraduate students to advanced
academics to appreciate the Y movement's role in social transformations
across the world.
