British civic society at the end of empire Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 December 2025
Chapter 5 uses the work of Christian Aid to address the neglect of religious institutions in histories of the domestic impact of decolonisation. It shows how the complex interplay between domestic and international contexts determined the everyday experiences of religious humanitarian action. Christian Aid was shaped by post-war European reconstruction, by changing attitudes towards overseas missionary work, by the increasingly multiracial makeup of the World Council of Churches, by debates about the meaning of Christianity in modern Britain, and by long-standing rhythms of religious associational life. Its work reveals how religious organisations adapted in the face of decolonisation and capitalised on humanitarianism as a way of encouraging greater participation in religious activities. Christian Aid played certain dimensions of their imperial connections to their advantage, while simultaneously distancing themselves from those dimensions that were losing public support.
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