The elephant in the room: The need to re-discover the intersection between poverty, powerlessness and power in ‘Theology and Development’ praxis

Nadine Bowers Du Toit

doi:10.4102/hts.v72i4.3459

Abstract

South Africa remains a divided community on many levels: socially, racially and socioeconomically. This is no more evident than in the recent protests – most notably waged on university campuses and on the streets in the past year. This, the article argues, is closely related to the need to reclaim the notion of power by those who feel they remain relegated to the social and economic peripheries after over 20 years of democracy. While ‘theology and development’ praxis has been most closely associated in a post-apartheid era with welfare and charity approaches or pragmatic interaction with state and civil society (both of which have been critiqued), what has not been sufficiently addressed is the notion of power which once dominated ecclesiastical discourses. This is the proverbial ‘elephant in the room’, which the article argues must once again be revisited and re-engaged – both within scholarly reflection and within church practice – in order to address these divides.

Highlights

The rainbow nation heralded by Archbishop Tutu in the heady days of early democracy has not been realised
The Archbishop recently commented at a re-enactment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) faith community hearings that he felt God was crying over the injustices that still remain here and in the world at large
It is interesting to note that even Villa-Vicencio (2007:184) himself predicted that: Because political liberation in Latin America and South Africa is not ‘evenly distributed’, it is likely that the fissures and ferment that have always been part of liberation theology will become more pronounced in the future. (p. 184). This is precisely where we found ourselves 22 years after the fall of apartheid and dare I say the fall of liberation theology

Summary

Introduction

The rainbow nation heralded by Archbishop Tutu in the heady days of early democracy has not (yet – as an eschatological aside!) been realised. Within theology and development discourse,1 a critique of the church’s engagement with poverty as limited to notions of charity and/or pragmatic interaction with the state in South Africa has been critiqued by various scholars over the past 10 years.2 What has not been challenged is perhaps what may be termed the ‘elephant in the room’ – the failure of the church to sufficiently recognise that to engage with poverty, there is a need to engage discourses and practices within ‘theology and development’ with regards to power and powerlessness.

Results

Conclusion