Esther's Army: The Christian Women Who Power the American Right

How and why right-wing Christian women have risen to the forefront of American politics.

The 2024 election of Donald Trump was the culmination of the strategic efforts of Christian women over six decades.

Sociologist Katie Gaddini was with them as they organized, rallied, and celebrated. As a former evangelical, Gaddini speaks the language of the Christian Right fluently. In Esther’s Army, she profiles six distinct archetypes: college idealists, anti-feminist powerhouses, Black conservatives, MAHA social media influencers, white suburbanites, and “Mama-Bears” marching on state capitols to ban books and gender initiatives. Observing Christian women’s activism from grassroots networks to conservative academies and law school to public politics and jobs at the White House today—as they borrow feminist rhetoric to “lean in” to their executive skills while rejecting liberal feminism—Gaddini reveals how these women have turned being underestimated into a strategic force.

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Esther's Army: The Christian Women Who Power the American Right

How and why right-wing Christian women have risen to the forefront of American politics.

The 2024 election of Donald Trump was the culmination of the strategic efforts of Christian women over six decades.

Sociologist Katie Gaddini was with them as they organized, rallied, and celebrated. As a former evangelical, Gaddini speaks the language of the Christian Right fluently. In Esther’s Army, she profiles six distinct archetypes: college idealists, anti-feminist powerhouses, Black conservatives, MAHA social media influencers, white suburbanites, and “Mama-Bears” marching on state capitols to ban books and gender initiatives. Observing Christian women’s activism from grassroots networks to conservative academies and law school to public politics and jobs at the White House today—as they borrow feminist rhetoric to “lean in” to their executive skills while rejecting liberal feminism—Gaddini reveals how these women have turned being underestimated into a strategic force.

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Esther's Army: The Christian Women Who Power the American Right

Esther's Army: The Christian Women Who Power the American Right

by Katie Gaddini
Esther's Army: The Christian Women Who Power the American Right

Esther's Army: The Christian Women Who Power the American Right

by Katie Gaddini

Hardcover

$29.99 
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Overview

How and why right-wing Christian women have risen to the forefront of American politics.

The 2024 election of Donald Trump was the culmination of the strategic efforts of Christian women over six decades.

Sociologist Katie Gaddini was with them as they organized, rallied, and celebrated. As a former evangelical, Gaddini speaks the language of the Christian Right fluently. In Esther’s Army, she profiles six distinct archetypes: college idealists, anti-feminist powerhouses, Black conservatives, MAHA social media influencers, white suburbanites, and “Mama-Bears” marching on state capitols to ban books and gender initiatives. Observing Christian women’s activism from grassroots networks to conservative academies and law school to public politics and jobs at the White House today—as they borrow feminist rhetoric to “lean in” to their executive skills while rejecting liberal feminism—Gaddini reveals how these women have turned being underestimated into a strategic force.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781324123767
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 06/30/2026
Pages: 224
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr. Katie Gaddini is a visiting scholar at Stanford University and associate professor of sociology at University College London. She’s written for Time, the Hill and the San Francisco Chronicle, and appeared on BBC, NPR, and international media outlets.

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