Liberation Theology Research Articles

Anti-Blackness and Moral Repair

For centuries, Europeans interpreted the biblical curse of Ham to justify the colonization and enslavement of Africans. Yet some Zambians today repeat this story as a demonstration of God’s intention for Africans to be servants to whites, thus explaining global inequalities. I approach these apparently anti-Black views not as evidence of false consciousness but as counterhegemonic theorizations of racism, coloniality, and capitalism. Many Zambians use the Ham narrative to challenge the liberal fetishization of equality amid the territorializing border logics of the nation-state. They demonstrate how, in a radically unequal world, these fetishes perpetuate social divisions that contravene God’s will. This constitutes a non-egalitarian decolonizing critique that instead demands relations of mutual connection, kinship, and care across continents. Working toward moral repair, I enlist the resources of liberation theology to imagine new ethical and political futures that are both anti-racist and anti-statist.

The future of Black Theology of Liberation: Narrative as epistemological resource

The death of Black Theology of Liberation (BTL) has been announced, and many were invited to the funeral. This article rejects vehemently such a death as a myth, and provides two reasons why such a theology would have a place to address theologising in the world. It firstly argues that BTL attributes its birth through stories. These stories are captured in history; embodied stories that are told. Secondly, it is found in a broader epistemology than that provided by the Enlightenment paradigm. Therefore, it is not only found in conceptual, argumentative discourses, but other forms of knowledge systems, including stories, poetry, and personal storytelling. However, this has still not been equally appreciated and explored. Taking the above two reasons into account, the death of BTL cannot be announced by academics, since they were never the sole custodians thereof, only recipients of the tradition of an oppressed people.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article has implications for how theology is being done in all theology-related disciplines, moving from context, to scripture, to context in a continuous hermeneutical circle. It addresses the way in which all theological disciplines have been functioning within the Enlightenment paradigm, and how black theology itself has lent itself to it, but is continually reforming, because of its nature to be narrative in its approach.

The Theology of the Ethnocultural Empathic Turn: Towards the Balkan Theology of Political Liberation

The theology of the ethnocultural empathic turn, on the general level, encompasses ethnocultural empathy, which, as a branch of social psychology, strives for a thorough understanding of the life context of those ethnically and culturally different from ourselves. In the context of Christian theology, this turn also embraces the turn reflected in Mt 15:21–28 (Mk 7:24–30), in which Jesus expands his missionary work from the locally based “House of Israel” into the global realm to include the entire “inhabited world”. In this essay, the theological discourse of ethnocultural empathic turn is embedded within a specific sociopolitical context, which brings us to the Balkans, i.e., the post-Yugoslav framework, where we discuss the legacy of Bishop Srećko Badurina and layperson Franjo Starčević. During the disintegration of the Yugoslav Federation, they vigorously resisted the dominant ethnonationalist-religious persuasions of the Croatian Catholic and Serbian Orthodox communities. They stood up for those who faced elimination due to the policy of ethnic cleansing. Today, both can serve as the foundation for the establishment of the theology in question, aiming at the development of the first post-Yugoslav contextual theology based on the political theology and the theology of liberation, capable of tackling the phenomenon of ethnoreligiosity as one of the most pressing problems plaguing this region.

Gender Equality Perspective of Asghar Ali Engineer: Challenges and Opportunities for Theological Feminists

Gender equality in the Islamic context is in deep focus, especially through the lens of feminist theology. This article explores the views of Asghar Ali Engineer, a Muslim activist, who advocates the need to treat women as equals to men and redefine sharia law regarding gender issues. The main focus is on the challenges and opportunities facing feminist theology in Islam, with an emphasis on the concept of gender equality and its impact on Muslim women. This research adopts a qualitative approach, analyzing and exploring data from key works such as "Islamic Liberation Theology" by Latief Muhaemin and the works of Asghar Ali Engineer. Feminist theologians, including Engineer, face the challenges of reconstructing religious texts, deconstructing traditional understandings that devalue women, and resolving socio-cultural challenges related to religious law and social norms. With a socio-theological approach, they emphasize the importance of understanding the social context and reinterpreting key concepts to suit the needs of the times. In an effort to create a non-exploitative life order, theological feminists such as Engineer strive to provide equal opportunities for women and men, including in aspects of leadership, to bring positive changes in the interpretation of Islamic religious teachings in the 21st century.
 

‘Stand Against the Wiles of the Devil’: Interpreting QAnon as a Pseudo-Christian Extremist Movement

The religious dimensions of the QAnon movement and links with political violence have been noted by researchers. This paper furthers this scholarship by conducting an analysis of 121 religious images taken from QAnon Telegram channels over 18 months. Through adopting semiotic and hermeneutical theory, it is argued that QAnon religious imagery can be categorised into a series of types, all influenced by Christian theological themes. When interpreted in a Christian context, these images reveal a close relationship with US-based Christian evangelicalism and with Christian liberation theology movements. By presenting contemporary politics as an eschatological battle between the oppressed and oppressors, framed as the QAnon community versus the devil, the QAnon movement encourages political activism closely analogous to Christian liberation theology movements. This contributes to an explanatory framework for the connections between QAnon followers and anti-government protest and violence during the Covid-19 pandemic and the 6 January storming of the US Capitol.

Analysis of the links between feminist thought, political activism, and theological discourse in the struggle for social justice

The fight for body positivity is an ongoing struggle against unattainable beauty standards and social pressure. It entails questioning accepted norms, celebrating variety, and advocating for acceptance of all physical characteristics. It is necessary to demolish false beliefs and promote inclusivity, mental health, and self-acceptance in order to cultivate a culture of self-love and empowerment. This article therefore explores the relationships that exist between the pursuit of body positivism and feminist theory, political activity, and theological discourse. In order to oppose restrictive body norms and advance body acceptance and empowerment, it explores the intersections between feminist theories, political activism, and theological concepts. This analysis seeks to offer light on the ways in which these three characteristics contribute to the body positivist movement and its implications for global gender equality by examining historical developments, current problems, and prospective paths for change. This article utilised the secondary, feminist and liberation theologies analysis as methodology. The article has six proposals to individuals, communities, institutions, and society as a transformative strategy.

PARA QUEM FALOU DOM HELDER CÂMARA?

In this article, our goal is to construct a mapping of Dom Helder Câmara's intellectual production between 1964 and 1970, a period marked by both the early years of his administration at the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Olinda and Recife and the civil-military dictatorship. At this time, which preceded the creation of Liberation Theology, the religious leader in question defended development projects based on a perspective guided by the Church's social doctrine. With this approach, we will enable a discussion of his moments of greatest activity, themes, interlocutors, target audience, and the difficulties imposed on the archbishop by the Catholic Church and the government during the first years of the dictatorship in the country. For the development of this work, we analyzed the speeches presented by Dom Helder in lectures and some works published by him throughout the 1960s.

Avoiding Burnout with Compassionate Accompaniment: A Novel Approach to Training, Selecting, Managing, and Regulating Frontline Workers

Abstract A significant amount of nonprofit work happens on the “frontlines”—interacting directly with clients and developing relationships with them in unpredictable and complex social service settings. As a result, frontline work tends to result in high degrees of burnout among staff, manifesting in emotional exhaustion and cynicism towards clients, as well as poor health for workers and ongoing turnover for organizations. How do frontline workers avoid burnout and attrition while doing effective work with clients? Informed by an inductive qualitative research study of frontline workers across 10 social service organizations, this policy brief first presents two approaches to frontline work that I witnessed, both of which have negative impacts on staff and clients. These approaches align with extant scholarship on street-level bureaucracy. I then present a third approach, drawing from a practice of compassionate accompaniment I observed in my research, and which avoids the commonplace negative outcomes. This approach aligns with literature from liberation theology, as well as abolitionist organizing, decolonizing approaches, and feminist theory. Inspired by the practice of compassionate accompaniment, I propose four policy suggestions involving novel processes of training, selecting, managing, and regulating frontline workers to reduce staff burnout and increase their effectiveness with clients.

Catolicismo e política na era digital: o caso de Bernardo Küster e a Teologia da Libertação no YouTube

The research examines Bernardo Küster’s discourses, a conservative Catholic follower of Olavo de Carvalho, on YouTube, and analyzes videos published from July 2017 to November 2020 whose main theme is Liberation Theology. This analysis is based on studies of conservatism and religious progressivism in Brazil and Latin America, and considers the relationship between the far-right, christianism and social media. The study reveals that the ideological foundation of Bolsonarism has its roots in Brazil’s historical Catholicism, with an anti-Marxist discourse dating back to the 1930s. This ideology gains strength on modern platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and, most notably, YouTube, giving rise to new generations of theorists/influencers. Keywords: Christian conservatism; Digital political activism; YouTube.

KONTRIBUSI TEOLOGI PEMBEBASAN BAGI FEMINISME DI ASIA: SEBUAH KAJIAN KRITIS

Experiences of oppression, marginalization, and subordination have become a number of particular contexts that gave birth to critical reflections in a number of theologies such as liberation theology and feminist theology. The liberation theology project that was systematically promoted in Latin America in the mid-20th century began with the spread of colonialism, the political-economic hegemony of both national and transnational businessmen, and the massive use of a militaristic approach to various criticisms and resistance of oppressed people. Likewise, Asian feminist theology originates from criticism and resistance to patriarchal domination in the structure of religious, political, economic, cultural, and social life. Of course, these two theologies operate in the same context, namely the experience of oppression and marginalization of a group of people. This article was written using qualitative research methods with a focus on literature studies in the form of books and scientific journal articles according to the themes reviewed. The result of this study shows that liberation theology has contributed to feminist theology and the feminist movement in Asia. By being inspired by the approaches, methods and social analysis developed by liberation theology, the feminist movement in Asia dared to launch a progressive critique of the patriarchal and feudalistic face of the Church. Not only criticizing, feminism in Asia has reached a common movement, namely the establishment of a communion to oppose oppressive structures in shared life.

Political Islam and emancipatory politics: snapshots of Islamic liberation theology

ABSTRACT As a growing corpus of academic literature is taking notice of the plural geographies and trajectories of liberation theologies across diverse faith traditions, inquiries into the relationship between political Islam and liberative praxis are garnering renewed attention. Some scholars, casting doubt on the possibility of an Islamic liberation theology (ILT), have regarded political Islam as being devoid of liberative potential. Others, designating Islamism as the Muslim equivalent of liberation theology, have argued the emancipatory potential of Islamic political theology came to an end with the rise of fanatical renditions of Islamist militancy. Challenging these narratives, this article contributes to a recent stream of scholarship which tracks the historical and ongoing articulation of an ILT that overlaps with but is irreducible to Islamism. The article defines ILT as a manner of Islamic political theology that came into being in the context of the global emergence of liberation theologies, and one whose commitment to liberative praxis is anchored in a humanist and anti-oppression interpretation of Islamic precepts.

Somatic pneumatology: A Pentecostal contribution to feminist liberation theology

ABSTRACT This article presents a somatic pneumatology, defined as a theological approach in which embodied encounters with Christ through the Holy Spirit in worship form a basis for critical and constructive work. Arising from pentecostal feminist theology, this somatic pneumatology is a vital resource for women’s empowerment to subvert patriarchal structures, demonstrating positive personal and social consequences. A somatic pneumatology highlights and corrects limitations in liberation feminist theologies that do not account for ecstatic, embodied worship praxis in theological construction, instead deeming such praxis ‘otherworldly’ sublimation that upholds patriarchal power structures. Marginalization of embodied worship as a basis for theological construction stems from an understanding of power that struggles to account for the role of ecstatic religious experience in empowering women to work for social justice. A somatic pneumatology reveals and corrects this blind spot, offering an important contribution to feminist liberation theology.

Toward a micro-political theology: a dialogue between Michael Foucault and liberation theologies

Toward a micro-political theology: a dialogue between Michael Foucault and liberation theologies

“First Woman to…” Exceptionalism Discourse

“First women to…” labels define the ways in which women leaders are characterized as “exceptional”. As already pointed out by some feminist scholars, exceptionalism discourse valorizes women’s achievements to the benefit of institutions and their patriarchal culture. While such valorization might enhance gender representation in spaces previously reserved for men, it also commodifies women’s capabilities. This, I argue, calls for resisting the subtle, less visible, often unintentional, and sometimes patronizing forms of discrimination that sustain the patriarchal culture of institutions such as “the church”. Many feminist theologians have repeatedly named “the cultural-political power at work in our world as patriarchy”. Questions about the relationship between patriarchal institutional culture and the legitimate presence of women leaders are central to the argument presented here. The case of South African feminist theologian, Mary-Anne Plaatjies Van Huffel, is used to illustrate the relentless task women face of having to challenge pervasive gender-bias in the patriarchal institutional culture of the church. I then explore the plausibility of reflective solidarity as a theo-ethical concept and its potential to transform the patriarchal institutional culture of the church.

The Echoes of Social Justice Trends in Kenya: A Case of The Rt. Rev. Bishop Alexander Kipsang’ Muge

The late Bishop Alexander Muge of the Anglican Church of Kenya, Diocese of Eldoret, made a remarkable contribution to the struggle for social justice in Kenya in the post-colonial era. However, his contribution to the struggle for social justice in Kenya has not been scholarly studied, hence the need for the present study. The purpose of the study was to establish the extent of Muge’s contribution to the making of Kenya’s trends in social justice. The objective of the article was to evaluate Rt. Rev. Alexander Kipsang’ Muge’s efforts towards empowering Kenyan society socially and economically. Liberation theology, as understood and used by theologians in Latin America in the early 1900s, was applied to the exploration of Muge’s struggle for social justice and the economic empowerment of Kenyan society. Knowledge of Muge’s contribution to the making of Kenya’s history as well as being one of the architects of the struggle for democracy in Kenya, underlie the significance and justification of the study. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. Archival and oral sources were significant in generating data. Purposive sampling, especially the snowball technique was used to identify interviewees. Analysis and interpretation of data employed a quantitative historical method. The findings of the study fill a knowledge gap about Rt. Rev. Bishop Alexander Kipsang’ Muge’s contribution to the cause of justice and socio-economic empowerment of the post-colonial Kenyan society.

A Proclamation of Hope

This paper explores the theological underpinnings of Pope Francis’s messages to world meetings of popular movements as a way to discern his theology of organizing. In these messages, one encounters Francis’s social teaching, which is rooted in the preferential option for the poor and marginalized. Beyond an epistemological privilege of the poor long embraced in liberation theology, Francis looks to the agency, creativity, and resourcefulness of the poor to locate God’s action in history. He models a theological methodology attentive to the concrete experiences and struggles of those on the peripheries. From there, Francis points to the solidarity, resistance, and disruptive agency of grassroots movements as an expression of the Gospel. He describes the circle of praxis in a way that emphasizes encounter, solidarity, and urgency to act, summarized in his insistence that the “future of humanity” lies “in the hands of peoples and in their ability to organize.”

Liberation Theology and the Others: Contextualizing Catholic Activism in 20th Century Latin America ed. by Christian Büschges, Andrea Müller, and Noah Oehri (review)

Liberation Theology and the Others: Contextualizing Catholic Activism in 20th Century Latin America ed. by Christian Büschges, Andrea Müller, and Noah Oehri (review)

Chrześcijański feminizm w Afryce – kontynentalne dyskursy i lokalne praktyki

<p>This paper discusses selected research topics developed by feminist theologians connected with the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. The Circle was established in 1989 and was led for many years by Mercy Amba Oduyoye, a Ghanaian Methodist theologian. Today the Circle attracts women theologians from three generations and various African countries. The paper refers to feminist and postcolonial theories as well as some more African-oriented topics developed in the Circle’s writings. Complex and ambiguous reinterpretations of the so-called African Traditional Religion are framed by references to inculturation and liberation theology. The final part of the paper refers to the concept of “oral theology” and theology in practice. The author’s ethnographic fieldwork in Ghana among Catholic women is mentioned to draw parallels between the theological practical approach and the anthropological concept of lived religion.</p>

Nicolás Panotto and Luis Martínez Andrade. Decolonizing Liberation Theologies: Past, Present, and Future

Nicolás Panotto and Luis Martínez Andrade. Decolonizing Liberation Theologies: Past, Present, and Future

“In the Name of the God of All Names: Yahweh, Obatalá, Olorum”: The 1981 Quilombos Mass as an Ecumenical Pilgrimage in Brazil

AbstractOn November 22, 1981, thousands of laypeople, along with bishops, priests, and theologians, gathered in Recife to celebrate the Eucharist. Offered during a military dictatorship in a period of popular insurgency, the Quilombos Mass mourned the death of millions in the African slave trade, sought pardon for the Church's past sins, and celebrated the resistance of Blacks in Brazil and beyond its borders. The acclaimed Black Brazilian pop star and activist Milton de Nascimento collaborated with an activist poet and three bishops to produce a multimedia performance; in the spirit of liberation theology, it was marked by striking visuals, dance, music, and the invocation of the sacred. This article draws on reportage, speeches and correspondence, military court and intelligence records, published interviews, and the author's interview with one of its composers. It offers a close textual analysis, with attention to Catholic theological debates, as well as an analysis of the performance itself, drawn from video recordings and bringing attention to aspects neglected by most commentators, who refer only to the album, as it was finally produced. Initially stifled by the Vatican, Milton's masterpiece, issued as an album on vinyl and performed in paid concerts, became a powerful cultural reference for activists, serving as a touchstone for a strategic alliance between Black activists and the liberationist Church.