Editors' Introduction

Abstract

Editors' Introduction Stephanie Y. Mitchem, Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre, and Elisabeth Schïssler Fiorenza Envisioning the future always includes critically revisiting the past and taking careful stock of the present. The contributors to this issue demonstrate this ongoing process of imagining the future of global feminisms and feminist studies in religion through their rich analyses of the past and present. The first three articles discuss the implications of feminist interpretation in three different textual traditions—the Christian Testament, the Qur'an, and Pali Buddhist literature. They explore possibilities for the practice of feminist biblical interpretation, understanding feminism in Iran, and exploring Indian Buddhist women's history, based on an analysis of current intersections and divergences or on a critical look at the work of the past. The participants of the Native/First Nation roundtable lay out a diverse agenda for future conversation and activism through their response to the lead article's strategic reclaiming of the category "liberation theology" and its creative reuse of the image of the master's house and the master's tools. In a Different Voice, Penelope Scambly Schott's poem, "Caring for the World," focuses attention on the immediacy and the beauty the daily realities of bodies, particularly aging and ailing ones. In the Living It Out section, the issue concludes with the story of the production and afterlife of Period Piece, an early feminist film claiming menstruation as a site of feminist reflection and creativity. The responses in this section are a testament to the wide array of personal, theoretical, and artistic fruits of this groundbreaking feminist work. In order to continue to empower the future of feminist work, the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion annually recognizes new scholars in the field for the individual accomplishments of their early work. Cutting across disciplines, these new feminist scholars demonstrate the vibrancy of feminist studies in religion. We thank Professors Margaret Miles, Kathleen Sands, and Mary Churchill for their willingness to serve as judges for this year's award and their tireless commitment to the work of JFSR. Joseph Marchal's article is the recipient of this year's New Scholar Award. His article interrogates the connections and gaps among three strands of biblical interpretation: postcolonial theory, feminist hermeneutics, and the study of Roman imperialism. By examining the rhetoric of Philippians in light of categories [End Page 1] of travel, the view of outsiders, and gender, Marchal demonstrates the value of articulating a postcolonial, feminist framework of interpretation that takes seriously both the politics of interpretation and the intersections of hierarchies of domination in the context of empire. Fereshteh Ahmadi receives honorable mention from the New Scholar Award panel of judges. Her article contributes to a detailed and complex picture of the Middle East with her insider analysis of Iranian feminism. Ahmadi describes how "a new generation of feminists has emerged during the past two decades, as women's issues became an integral part of the modern Islamic discourses." Initially, feminist responses were developed by secular Iranian women, but Ahmadi discusses Iranian women who work within an Islamic framework and have entered the conversations about feminist reinterpretations of the Qur'an and Shari´a. Amidst a flourishing of feminist journals, and emerging feminist leaders, a solidarity has emerged between secular and religious Iranian feminists, even as they have begun new dialogues with feminists across the globe. In her article, Alice Collett crosses centuries as she explores the ways in which the discussion of Buddhism and gender has been shaped by the work of three early-twentieth-century female scholars: Caroline Rhys Davids, Mabel Bode, and Isaline Blew (I. B.) Horner. Identifying how Orientalism shaped these interpreters' approaches to Buddhism and resulted in the valuing of Pali literature over other texts, Collett proposes expanding the corpus of literature considered relevant and useful for studying women and gender in ancient Indian Buddhism. She argues for a contextual-historical approach to the texts and an emphasis on the plurality of voices within and across texts. The roundtable discussion similarly traces old paths in order to forge new trails. Andrea Smith draws on her work in Native American feminist intellectual ethnography in order to theorize Native liberation theology. Although recognizing...