After the Protests Are Heard: Enacting Civic Engagement and Social Transformation by Sharon D. Welch (review)

Abstract

After the Protests Are Heard: Enacting Civic Engagement and Social Transformation by Sharon D. Welch (review) Deborah J. Haynes After the Protests Are Heard: Enacting Civic Engagement and Social Transformation By Sharon D. Welch, New York University Press, 2019. Sharon D. Welch is a senior scholar who has lived her values both professionally and personally. This book is the fruition of a rich and productive life: nearly forty years teaching religion and ethics at several universities, including Harvard Divinity School, University of Missouri, and Meadville Lombard Theological Seminary; twelve years of serving in administrative capacities, including as department chair and provost; six books; thirty‐six published articles; and countless hours of public service for organizations and progressive non‐profits. Grounded in liberation theology and feminist ethics, After the Protests Are Heard traverses rich historical, theoretical, and practical territory. It is both visionary and pragmatic, presenting daunting challenges to meet lofty goals. Welch outlines the historical trajectory of movements for democratic and progressive social change. Theoretically, while remaining grounded in theological and ethical concerns, her work crosses disciplinary boundaries, ranging from political philosophy and sociology to African American spirituality and indigenous religions and cultures. Many evocative themes are discussed, including “the soul of democracy,” which is at risk in this time of exploitative capitalism, authoritarianism, and social regression; and “our Windigos,” seven intrinsic evils based on greed and isolation that are driving these political, social, and economic processes. While offering such powerful historical and theoretical analyses, Welch’s book is also pragmatic: She uses real‐world examples from businesses and non‐profits to highlight good work based on ethical values of reciprocity, generosity, and forgiveness. We get to know people at work in the world who want to foster change. Welch’s book can affect the way one approaches research and constructs teaching. In terms of research methods, Welch demonstrates skillful integration of historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives, alongside first‐person writing, hortatory messaging, interviews, and collaboration. In particular, her work with Reverend Lynda Sutherland concludes with a powerful “Just Living Passport” that is being used within the non‐profit sector and that is a fine resource for both undergraduate and graduate courses in theology and ethics. When I first read this “Passport,” I immediately began to muse about how to engage with others about its themes. Welch has a long history of working with the Engagement Scholarship Consortium, a group of universities and colleges that are committed to new pedagogical models. A fundamental goal of this work is creating mutually beneficial partnerships among faculty, students, and local communities to solve pressing social issues. Given the magnitude of our challenges, helping students undertake deep learning offers them a way not only to receive and grasp new information, but also to challenge preconceived notions behind prior patterns, assumptions, and convictions. Helping students, and all of us, to be wary of moral disengagement—ways that even decent human beings may commit and justify behaviors that we would otherwise consider morally abhorrent—is crucial (159). And not to fall prey to despair when we are strongly aware of both the magnitude of the social problems we face and simultaneously know that efforts to resolve them cannot measure up to the intensity of these issues is a worthy personal and pedagogical goal. As Welch put it so succinctly, “… our educational model is grounded in service, and grounded in insights from engaged Buddhism, Native American traditions, and feminist theory: we do not think ourselves into new ways of acting, but act ourselves into new ways of thinking and being” (162). For me, one of the most engaging, and too short, sections of this book concerns altermodernity and relational aesthetics. Coined by Nicolas Bourriaud in 2002, the term altermodern names “an emerging global formation, a shift in politics, aesthetics, and culture shaped equally by Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the West” (181). New intercultural connections are fueling both artistic and public projects; and Welch discusses public artist Theaster Gates’s work in Chicago, St. Louis, and elsewhere as an example of integrating issues of race, aesthetics, and ethics on the literal ground. Like other public and community artists, Gates embraces a “post‐studio” ethos, working alongside others...