Editor’s Comment

Abstract

Open AccessEditor’s CommentAnnette Leis-PetersAnnette Leis-PetersSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:Aug 2021https://doi.org/10.13109/diac.2020.11.2.123SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail AboutIssue 2/2020 of Diaconia is a visible and pleasant evidence for the increasing development of diaconal studies into an international, ecumenical and interdisciplinary research field. This issue gathers theological and theoretical reflections rooted in the Nordic Lutheran and in the continental European Roman Catholic discourse. It also contains a variety of theoretical contributions that are based on empirical research ranging from a study about ritual servitude against the backdrop of the African communalism and the concept of Ubuntu to a quantitative survey in leadership- and organisational studies about the significance of relational aspects for work motivation. While all articles are naturally completed pieces in themselves reading them together discloses interesting and sometimes unexpected links.The first article of Sturla Stålsett at the Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society attends to one of the most basic and most decisive dimensions in diaconia: the use of language about diaconal work and its aims. Based on earlier theoretical contributions to this debate, he discusses concretely what (negative) consequences the use of a term like “the vulnerable” in diaconia imply and how the dilemma arising from this can be handled. Sturla Stålsett’s and Beate Jelstad Løvaas’ article have in common that they both demand more reflection from those who are responsible for (the organisation of) diaconal work. While Sturla Stålsett focusses on fair and deliberate language in diaconia, Beate Jelstad Løvaas from VID Specialized University in Norway highlights the correlation between relational aspects and the motivation to work. She presents the results of a comparative, quantitative study with respondents from a diaconal and a commercial healthcare institution in Norway. Løvaas’ findings confirm that interpersonal relationships make the work more meaningful for the employees. This gives her reason to ponder on motivation to work against the backdrop of the growing digitalisation in working life that many have experienced during the Covid 19 pandemic.Also, Jindřich Šrajer from the Department of Social and Charity Work at the Faculty of Theology at University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice examines in his article a dilemma, namely the issue of ethics in social work and how ethics is related to personal responsibility and conscience. In his theological analysis, he starts from the observation that growing pluralism implies the risk of handling ethical challenges in social work in a more instrumental way. Inspired by writings of the Swiss Roman-Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar and Pope Francis he discusses how a theologically and biblically based understanding of conscience can be an enriching impulse in the general debate about ethics in social work. David Stiles-Ocran from the University of Oslo in Norway introduces us into the complicated debate about the limitations of African communalism that also can be understood as a dilemma. By analyzing the result of an empirical study about the practice of ritual servitude in Ghana, he explores possible risks in prioritizing the community. In his theoretical considerations, he revisits the well-known and often used concept of Ubuntu and demands more consciousness for individual body space, the value of individuality and gender equality when referring to African communalism. Last, but not least, it is the pleasure for the editorial team together with the publishing house to announce that we have achieved an important milestone in the development of Diaconia. Since April 2021, all issues and all articles from the past ten years of publishing diaconia research in the journal Diaconia are available Open Access. This means that all Diaconia issues ever published are now accessible online and without paywall so that everybody from all over the world can easily follow the discourse in diaconal studies that is represented in Diaconia. We invite all our readers to use this possibility. Click yourself into the Diaconia archive at https://www.vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com/zeitschriften-und-kapitel/9506/diaconia and start rummaging in the interesting articles of your colleagues. As a Diaconia reader, you have certainly expected an issue consisting of five articles. As many areas of society, we are also affected by COVID 19. For us, the most noticeable effect is that our quality assurance processes have taken and still take longer time. We are happy to present four interesting articles in this issue and to announce that many interesting articles are in the process of being published.As always, we want to invite you heartly to contact the editorial secretary Jeremy Heuslein ([email protected]) or myself ([email protected]) if you want to discuss ideas for the publications in Diaconia or if you have comments about the journal or our publications. We are very grateful for your feedback.With best wishes for good readingsAnnette Leis-Peters Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Download book coverVolume 11Issue 2December 2020 ISSN: 1869-3261eISSN: 2196-9027HistoryPublished online:August 2021 Information© 2021 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Theaterstraße 13, D-37073 Göttingen, ein Imprint der Brill-GruppeThe journal shall appear twice a year. It is an open access publication licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License, accessible at DOI 10.13109/diac.2019.10.issue-1. For a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/license/by-nc-nd/4.0/.PDF download