Autore: Rolandi, Martina
Titolo: The religious experience between Catholic faith and Feminist identity. The case of Italian female Scouts
Periodico: Rassegna italiana di sociologia
Anno: 2026 - Fascicolo: 1 - Pagina iniziale: 35 - Pagina finale: 58

Moving beyond the binary opposition between oppressed religious women and secular, emancipated, and feminist women, this paper proposes a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between strong Catholic identities and feminist values. Despite the lively presence of anti-gender propaganda in the European public debate in recent years, feminist values have been increasingly embraced by younger generations, especially women. This shift partly reflects the growing popularization of feminism and broader secularization trends among young people. This research focuses on Italy’s most popular Youth Catholic organization, Agesci, which provides a unique lens to observe the negotiation between the seemingly conflicting identities of Catholic and feminist. Drawing on 15 qualitative interviews, the study examines the characteristics of women’s beliefs and faith, as well as how their religious identity intersects with their feminist self-identification. The findings show that participants do not see any incoherence between their feminist positions and faith; on the contrary, they are described as mutually reinforcing. However, this coherence is possible only when participants engage in a re-signification of the Bible’s texts and the teachings of the Church. Indeed, they see conflict with the Church as an institution, which they believe is incapable of keeping up with a changing world.




SICI: 0486-0349(2026)1<35:TREBCF>2.0.ZU;2-4
Testo completo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/download/article/10.1423/119543
Testo completo alternativo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.1423/119543

Esportazione dati in Refworks (solo per utenti abilitati)

Biblioteche ACNP che possiedono il periodico