"Missionaries and Colonialism"

with Jeremy Menchik, Associate Professor, Pardee School of Global Studies What role do missionaries play in imperialism? Despite the increased visibility of religion in international affairs, and the return of the language of imperialism, the two phenomena exist in separate theoretical spheres. To answer this question, this paper synthesizes the literature on missionaries and empire before turning to an original case study of Southern Baptist missionaries to Indonesia, using original archival documents to map the relationship between missionaries and Dutch, then American, imperialism. *Reading the paper in advance is required for attendance. Email arleneb@bu.edu for your copy. Cosponsored with the School of Theology