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      Searching for May Maxwell : Bahá’í millennial feminism, transformative identity & globalism

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      CROSSON-DISSERTATION.pdf (2.144Mb)
      Date
      2013-08-21
      Author
      Crosson, Selena
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Doctoral
      Metadata
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      Abstract
      This dissertation demonstrates that a group of western women connected to May Maxwell through ties of faith and friendship exemplified a distinct form of early twentieth-century feminism in their adoption and promotion of the transplanted Bahá’í Faith. In actualizing their doctrinal principles, they worked to inaugurate a millennial new World Order predicated on the spiritual and social equality of women. This group championed a unique organizational structure and transnational perspective that propelled them to female leadership, both as inspirational models and agents of practical change. By examining how Bahá’í doctrines shaped the beliefs, mythologies, relationships and reform goals of women, this dissertation broadens understandings of the ways in which religion can act as a vehicle for female empowerment and transformative identity. Together, western early Bahá’í women built individual and collective capacity, challenging gender prescriptions and social norms. Their millennial worldview advocated a key role for women in shaping nascent Bahá’í culture, and initiating personal, institutional, and societal change. Their inclusive collaborative organizational style, non-western origins and leadership, diverse membership, and global locus of activity, made them one of the first groups to establish and sustain a transnational feminist reform network. Although in some respects this group resembled other religious, feminist, and reform-oriented women, identifiably “Bahá’í” features of their ideology, methodologies, and reform activities made them distinctive. This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the role of women in the creation of modern religious and social mythologies and paradigms. A study of Bahá’í millennial religious feminism also expands current conceptions of the boundaries, diversities, and intersections of early twentieth-century western millennial, feminist, religious, and transnational reform movements.
      Degree
      Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
      Department
      History
      Program
      History
      Supervisor
      Korinek, Valerie J.
      Committee
      Biggs, Lesley; Kent, Christopher; Meyers, Mark; Beardsall, Sandra
      Copyright Date
      October 2013
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/ETD-2013-10-1145
      Subject
      ‘Abdu’l Bahá
      anti-racism
      Canada
      community
      early twentieth century
      Esperanto
      education
      faith
      female friendship
      first-wave
      France
      history
      Iran
      Montreal
      myth
      Oriental
      Persia
      religion
      Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum
      Shoghi Effendi
      social reform
      transnational
      women
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      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
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