Book launch: Katie Gaddini's 'Esther's Army'

For decades, conservative Christian women have been dismissed as naive and brainwashed, victims of political coercion by the men in their lives. Yet that narrative doesn’t explain how they have also become some of the most influential political organisers of our time: the backbone of the modern conservative movement whose strategic efforts over the past six decades have culminated in the 2024 election of Donald Trump.

To understand this unique and growing political force, sociologist Katie Gaddini conducted over ten years of ethnographic research, interviewing key players in the field and joining them across the country as they organised, rallied, and celebrated.

Observing Christian women’s activism from grassroots networks to conservative universities to public politics and jobs at the White House Gaddini reveals how these women have turned being underestimated into a strategic force. The result is a sweeping portrait of the women shaping the political future of the United States.

Speakers

• Katie Gaddini (author), Associate Professor of Sociology, UCL
• Victoria Redclift (discussant), Associate Professor of Political Sociology, UCL
• Aaron Winter (discussant), Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Lancaster University
• Katherine Twamley (chair), Professor of Sociology, UCL

Related links

• More about the book: Esther’s Army
• Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU)
• UCL Sociology Network
• UCL Social Research Institute

Image

Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash.