Christianity and contemporary politics: the conditions and possibilities of faithful witness

Abstract

Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction. The Terms and Conditions of Political Life. Religion and Postsecular Politics. Theological Politics and the Ecclesial-Turn. Summary of Aims and Methodology. 1. Faith-Based Organizations and the Emerging Shape of Church-State Relations. Introduction. Working Together: The Shaping of Relations between the State and Religious Groups in a Multi-Faith Society. Social Cohesion, Social Capital, and the Salvation of Civil Society. Liberalism and the Continuing Requirements of Public Reason. Theological Politics and the Question of What Constitutes Faithful Witness. Ecclesiology and the Political Mission of the Church. Summary. 2. Local: Augustine, Alinsky, and the Politics of the Common Good. Introduction. The Alinsky Approach: The Work of Broad-Based Community Organizing. Eschatology, Politics, and the Mutual Ground of the Saeculum. Christian Realism Redivivus ? A Thomistic Democratic Politics? Reweaving Civil Society. Politics without Piety Is Pitiless Piety without Politics Is Pitiful. Summary. 3. National: Christian Cosmopolitanism, Refugees, and the Politics of Proximity. Introduction. Theological Politics and the Liberal Democratic Response to Refugees. Refugees as Bare Life. Bare Life and the Limits of Humanitarianism. Hallowing Bare Life: A Doxological Response. Hallowed Be Thy Name. Sanctuary: The Practice of Hallowing Bare Life. Summary. 4. Global: Consumerism, Fair Trade, and the Politics of Ordinary Time. Introduction. Defining Political Consumerism. Consumerism and the Formation of Desire. Political Consumerism as Apprenticeship in the Virtues. Political Consumerism as Neighbor Love. Fair Trade as Contradiction. Fair Trade, Globalization and the Emergence of Political Consumerism. Ordinary Politics and the Peace of Babylon. Summary. Conclusion: Toward a Politics of Hospitality and a Theology of Politics. Epilogue. Bibliography. Index.