Postcolonialism Feminism And Religious Discourse

Contributors examine white feminist theology's misappropriations of Native North American women, Chinese footbinding, and veiling by Muslim women, as well as the Jewish emancipation in France, the symbolic dismemberment of black women by rap and sermons, and the potential to rewrite and reclaim canonical stories.

Contributors examine white feminist theology's misappropriations of Native North American women, Chinese footbinding, and veiling by Muslim women, as well as the Jewish emancipation in France, the symbolic dismemberment of black women by rap and sermons, and the potential to rewrite and reclaim canonical stories.

This book engages with the critical tools of Edward Said (1935-2003) and traces the voyage of various postcolonial feminist theologians. Along four intersecting lines, postcolonial feminist theology unfolds as addressing cultural othering, religious othering, gendered othering, and sexual othering. In critical solidarity with those constructed as other postcolonial feminist theology, the book challenges the norms of Western theology. (Series: ContactZone. Explorations in Intercultural Theology - Vol. 16)

The burgeoning field of postcolonial studies argues that most theology has been formed in dominant cultures, laden intrinsically with imperializing structures. An essential task facing theology is thus to "decolonize" the mind and free Christianity from colonizing bias and structures. Here, in this truly groundbreaking study, highly respected feminist theologian Kwok Pui-lan offers the first full-length theological treatment of what it means to do postcolonial feminist theology. She explains her methodological basis and explores several specific topics, including Christology, pluralism, and creation.

Winner of the 2008 Grawemeyer Award in Religion This long-awaited book by one of American Christianity's foremost ethicists proposes a framework for sexual ethics whereby justice is the criterion for all loving, including love that is related to sexual activity and relationships. It begins with historical and cross-cultural explorations, then addresses the large questions of embodiment, gender, and sexuality, and finally delineates the justice framework for sexual ethics. Though Just Love's particular focus is Christian sexual ethics, Farley's framework is broad enough to have relevance for multiple traditions. Also covered are specific issues in sexual ethics, including same-sex relationships, marriage and family, divorce and second marriage.

This book calls attention to an urgent need for postcolonial feminist approaches to practical theology. It not only advocates for the inclusion of colonialism as a critical optic for practical theology but also demands a close look at how colonialism is entangled with issues of race, ethnicity, gender, class, disability, and sexual orientation. Seeking to highlight the importance of the interdependence of life, the author challenges and contests the notion of independence as the desirable goal of the human being. Lifting up the experiences of overlooked groups--including children at adult-centered worship, queer and interracial youth in heterosexual and white normative family discourse, and non-human species in human-centered academic and theological realms--the book contributes to expanding the concerns of practical theology in ways that create healthy community for all human beings and non-human fellow creatures. It also takes up issues of multiple religious belonging and migration that practical theology has not sufficiently explored. These illuminating new possibilities promise to renew and even transform church communities through the inclusion of often-neglected groups with whom God is already present.

This collection of essays, originating in the SBL International Meetings in Berlin (2002) and Cambridge (2003), explores the current reception of historical criticism in feminist biblical studies, pushing the boundaries of past study and opening new vistas for future research. By framing the discussion in the context of the current reevaluation of both historical criticism and feminist exegesis, the contributors highlight the ongoing need to engage methodological issues. In addition, a strong postcolonial emphasis throughout the volume challenges the hegemony of Western biblical interpretation, promoting a format of dialogue and engagement. The collection brings together diverse cultural and geographical perspectives on biblical criticism, with over ten countries represented. Consisting of Western and non-Western perspectives, female and male scholars, junior and senior voices in the field, and a range of feminist scholars situated alongside postcolonial and gender critics, this collection reveals not only the multiplicity of perspectives but also the various transitions in scholarship that have taken place over the past thirty years. Volume contributors include Roland Boer, Athalya Brenner, Ann Graham Brock, Kristin De Troyer, Esther Fuchs, Archie Chi Chung Lee, Joseph Marchal, John Marshall, Hjamil Martínez-Vázquez, Madipoane Masenya (ngwana Mphahlele), Judith McKinlay, Priscilla Geisterfer Nyvlt, Jorunn Økland, Todd Penner, Vernon Robbins, Susanne Scholz, Hanna Stenström, and Caroline Vander Stichele.Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org).

First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.