Meaning in the Margins: Postcolonial Feminist Methodologies in Practical Theology

Abstract

This paper troubles research approaches in practical theology by exploring how attention to lived experiences of marginalization in postcolonial feminist theologies shapes theological methodologies. Drawing on the work of Walter Mignolo and Marcella Althaus-Reid, the margins are explored as epistemological and material sites that shape theological knowledge production. The complex intersections of experiences and identities of lives on the margins require a resistance to taxonomic or technical theological methodologies. As discussed by Mayra Rivera and Ada María Isasi-Díaz, the margins are not sites of deprivation, but of critical praxis, so theological methodology must be attentive to everyday experiences of the margins. The paper highlights where postcolonial feminist theologies add to practical theology about poetics by attending to making meaning. The paper concludes by reflecting on academic engagement with postcolonial feminist theology and the lived experiences of the margins.