Relating to the Poor: Conceptualizations of Christian Diaconal Practice Considered Through the Lens of Human Dignity

Abstract

Abstract This article, although not evolving from any original case study work, represents the concerted effort to critically reflect on ‘diaconia in action’ (diaconia as actual social practice) and, in that sense, take its focus on ‘practice’ as the point of departure for theoretical reflection. This is achieved, first, by exploring as a hermeneutical lens an understanding that could be directly related to a so-called ‘negative approach,’ which strives to attend to how the human dignity of people living in poverty is violated. Second, the article presents separate cases for two conceptualizations of diaconal practice that each in their own right reflect a more profound or developed concern with diaconia as actual Christian social practice: that of Hendrik Pieterse from South Africa and of Susanne Johnson from the United States. Finally, the article utilizes the adopted hermeneutical lens to consider the ‘relational element’ in the two conceptualizations, the modes of relating to people living in contexts...