Notes For A Decolonial Political Theology

"At the crossroads of ethics, poetics and politics, this innovative book outlines a series of notes to decolonize political theology. The author proposes counter-hegemonic forms of reading, which deconstruct domination by embracing fragility. The book opens with a diapason of prejudicelessness as a decolonial key, focusing on prejudices that hinder critical attention to a colonial political theology that perpetuates hatred. The first set of notes aims to 'de-orientalize the Semite' by reading midrashic and biblical texts in the present context, the second seeks to decolonize language by exploring the power of translation, and the third ponders decolonial theo-logics to outline a justice of the other. Connecting a number of fields, authors, and epistemologies, the book addresses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and brings together Jewish thought, continental philosophy, and Latin American perspectives. It engages with a range of thinkers, including Benjamin and Arendt, and features an interview with Enrique Dussel. This is an important methodological proposal for interdisciplinary and intercultural political theology and a valuable contribution towards rethinking the paradigm of political theology beyond its Eurocentric and colonialist premises"--

At the crossroads of ethics, poetics and politics, this innovative book outlines a series of notes to decolonize political theology. The author proposes counter-hegemonic forms of reading, which deconstruct domination by embracing fragility. The book opens with a diapason of prejudicelessness as a decolonial key, focusing on prejudices that hinder critical attention to a colonial political theology that perpetuates hatred. The first set of notes aims to ‘de-orientalize the Semite’ by reading midrashic and biblical texts in the present context, the second seeks to decolonize language by exploring the power of translation, and the third ponders decolonial theo-logics to outline a justice of the other. Connecting a number of fields, authors, and epistemologies, the book addresses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and brings together Jewish thought, continental philosophy, and Latin American perspectives. It engages with a range of thinkers, including Benjamin and Arendt, and features an interview with Enrique Dussel. This is an important methodological proposal for interdisciplinary and intercultural political theology and a valuable contribution towards rethinking the paradigm of political theology beyond its Eurocentric and colonialist premises.

This book provides an itinerary for studying political theology in Chinese society, including mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It explores the changing role of religion in Chinese history, from the rise of Buddhism alongside Confucianism and Daoism, through the arrival of Christianity and Islam, to the suppression of religion under communism. Since the reform and opening period beginning in 1978, China has experienced a resurgence of religiosity, with powerful societal implications. Governing authorities have sought to regulate religious practice in line with their governing system. Political theology in Chinese society is very much in flux and the chapters in this volume provide an array of windows through which to view the evolving reality. They include historical approaches and descriptive analyses, with an interdisciplinary and international range of perspectives by contributors based in and outside China. The book will be of particular interest to scholars of theology, religious studies, and contemporary China studies.

Offers a comprehensive survey and interpretation of contemporary Christian political theology in a newly revised and expanded edition This book presents the latest thinking on the topic of contemporary Christian political theology, with original and constructive essays that represent a range of opinions on various topics. With contributions from expert scholars in the field, it reflects a broad range of methodologies, ecclesial traditions, and geographic and social locations, and provides a sense of the diversity of political theologies. It also addresses the primary resources of the Christian tradition, which theologians draw on when constructing political theologies, and surveys some of the most important figures and movements in political theology. This revised and expanded edition provides the most comprehensive and accessible introduction to this lively and growing area of Christian theology. Organized into five sections, Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Theology, Second Edition addresses the many changes that have occurred over the last 15 years within the field of political theology. It features new essays that address social developments and movements, such as Anglican Social Thought, John Milbank, Anabaptist Political Theologies, African Political Theologies, Postcolonialism, Political Economy, Technology and Virtuality, and Grass-roots Movements. The book also includes a new essay on the reception of Liberation Theology. Offers essays on topics such as the Trinity, atonement, and eschatology Features contributions from leading voices in the field of political theology Includes all-new entries covering fresh developments and movements like the urgency of climate change, virtuality and the digital age, the economic crisis of 2008, the discourse of religion and violence, and new modalities of war Addresses some important social movements from a theological point of view including postmodernism, grass-roots movements, and more Provides both Islamic and Jewish responses to political theology Written for academics and students of political theology, Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Theology, 2nd Edition is an enlightening read that offers a wide range of authoritative essays from some of the most notable scholars in the field.

This book addresses a lacuna in scholarship concerning Hannah Arendt’s Augustinian heritage that has predominantly focused on her early work. It de-canonises the sources that political theology has appealed to by shifting the interpretive focus to her mature treatment in The Life of the Mind. Arendt’s initial criticism of Augustinian desiring is that it generates 'worldlessness'. In her later works, Arendt develops a more nuanced reading of the movements of thinking, desiring, and loving in her engagement with Augustine. This study attends to these movements and inspects the spatio-temporal framework which structure Arendt’s conception of the political. The author assesses the claim that Arendt’s conception of the political is drawn from a pedagogy of desiring and thinking from Augustine severed from his mystagogy. Although respecting the method of political theory, the author contends that Arendt’s severing of Augustinian pedagogy from mystagogy brings her to an insurmountable aporia. Instead, the author embeds these pedagogical practices within Augustine’s theology and suggests how that aporia might be overcome and used to develop a mystagogy for contemporary political life. The book will be of particular interest to scholars of political theology, as well as political theory, and political philosophy.

This book, rooted in the disciplines of theology and peace studies, reflects with and on war-affected communities in Colombia about transitioning from violence to peace. It argues that much that is significant for peace- building in situations of war escapes the notice of governments, human rights organizations, and academics because it is accomplished through a kind of agency they do not recognize. This book names that agency as constructive agency under duress and demonstrates its significance for peacebuilding by reflecting on a form that the author has seen operating in Colombia over nearly two decades.

This essay offers an overview of some decolonial perspectives and argues for a decolonial theological perspective as a possible response to modern/colonial relations of power in the North Atlantic world in general and the United States in particular.

The essays in this volume interrogate the problem of modern/colonial definitions of the human person and take up the struggle to decolonize such descriptions. Contributions engage work from various fields, including ethnic studies, religious studies, theology, queer theory, philosophy, and literary studies.