The 18th Biennial Congress of the New Chaucer Society (NCS) will take place in Portland, Oregon, USA, in 2012 (the exact date has not yet been set, it seems).
Call for session proposals
The congress will be comprised equally of sessions tied to a particular thematic thread and open sessions. The thread "Neighbor" invites proposals for sessions on political theology.
Description: "The neighbor is uniquely situated between friend and enemy, and long linked to the golden rule – the imperative to love the neighbor as the self. This thread welcomes sessions considering aspects of neighbors, neighborhoods, or neighborliness, including but not limited to the following: the vicissitudes of community, the ethics of charity, recent theoretical work on the political theology of neighbor love, borders between human and divine, unusual neighborhoods of people or texts; relations of proximity between peoples, cultures, authors, languages, or literatures. This thread will conclude with a session on 'Neighbor/Oceans,' bringing together different ways of thinking about propinquity and community."
Sessions may be proposed in any of the following formats: Paper Panels (either three papers at 20 minutes each or four papers at 15 minutes each); Roundtables (discussions between 5-7 speakers on a topic of common interest; speakers do not deliver papers, though they may speak from notes); Seminars (limited to ten participants; convened to consider works in progress by participants, or some text of common interest); Working Groups (extended seminars that convene virtually in advance of the congress, with a culminating session in Portland).
Proposals for sessions should be sent to the thread convenor (and programme co-chair), Patricia Ingham (Indiana University): pingham@indiana.edu
Deadline: 22 November 2010
After the sessions and session organizers have been determined by the programme committee, a call for papers will be announced in early February 2011. Session organizers are expected to select session participants from among proposals submitted in response to the February CFP.
More information on the NCS is to be found here:
http://artsci.wustl.edu/~chaucer/
25 October 2010
23 October 2010
CFP: Religion and Liberation: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Conference "Religion and Liberation: Interdisciplinary Perspectives" of Durham University's Department of Theology, Faith and Globalization Programme, and Centre for Catholic Studies, at St Cuthbert's Catholic Church (University Chaplaincy), Durham, UK, 17 December 2010,
9.00 am-6.30 pm
http://religionandliberation.wordpress.com
Call for papers
Description: "Current debates about religion and politics tend towards two positions: 1) concern over the danger of religious extremism; 2) criticism of religious traditions' conservative positions on social issues. While these debates are important, their dominance often eclipses the significant history of religiously rooted liberation movements. This conference aims to address this often-overlooked connection through the investigation of three themes: 1) historical analysis of religiously rooted liberation movements; 2) theoretical analysis of the connection between religious ideas and theories of liberation; and 3) critical analysis of religion's role in contemporary philosophy and critical theory. Through this investigation, we seek to show how the theoretical and historical elements within these traditions may provide a complementary critical resource which enables communities to work on solutions to the crises confronting contemporary society."
The organizers welcome submission on these or other related topics: Religious responses to the political and economic effects of globalization, including the responses of indigenous religious traditions; Theoretic, sociological, or historical perspectives on the role of religious traditions in struggles for human rights; Theoretical, sociological, or historical perspectives on Islamic or Christian liberation theology; Religion and the financial crisis; Religion and environmental activism; Connections between theological traditions and the critique of political economy; Religion and forms of social organization; Religion, politics of identity and contemporary social movements; Influence of theological traditions on political or economic structures; Regional assessments of the current status of liberation theology.
Keynote speakers: Philip Goodchild (University of Nottingham), "The Future of Liberation", and Roland Boer (University of Newcastle, Australia), "Kairos and Akairós"
To propose a paper, please send a title and a 400-word abstract to: t.j.lynch@durham.ac.uk
Deadline: 19 November 2010
Participants will be informed by 26 November.
Registration fee: £5
9.00 am-6.30 pm
http://religionandliberation.wordpress.com
Call for papers
Description: "Current debates about religion and politics tend towards two positions: 1) concern over the danger of religious extremism; 2) criticism of religious traditions' conservative positions on social issues. While these debates are important, their dominance often eclipses the significant history of religiously rooted liberation movements. This conference aims to address this often-overlooked connection through the investigation of three themes: 1) historical analysis of religiously rooted liberation movements; 2) theoretical analysis of the connection between religious ideas and theories of liberation; and 3) critical analysis of religion's role in contemporary philosophy and critical theory. Through this investigation, we seek to show how the theoretical and historical elements within these traditions may provide a complementary critical resource which enables communities to work on solutions to the crises confronting contemporary society."
The organizers welcome submission on these or other related topics: Religious responses to the political and economic effects of globalization, including the responses of indigenous religious traditions; Theoretic, sociological, or historical perspectives on the role of religious traditions in struggles for human rights; Theoretical, sociological, or historical perspectives on Islamic or Christian liberation theology; Religion and the financial crisis; Religion and environmental activism; Connections between theological traditions and the critique of political economy; Religion and forms of social organization; Religion, politics of identity and contemporary social movements; Influence of theological traditions on political or economic structures; Regional assessments of the current status of liberation theology.
Keynote speakers: Philip Goodchild (University of Nottingham), "The Future of Liberation", and Roland Boer (University of Newcastle, Australia), "Kairos and Akairós"
To propose a paper, please send a title and a 400-word abstract to: t.j.lynch@durham.ac.uk
Deadline: 19 November 2010
Participants will be informed by 26 November.
Registration fee: £5
21 October 2010
Book: Dalit Theology in the Twenty-First Century
"Dalit Theology in the Twenty-First Century: Discordant Voices, Discerning Pathways", edited by Sathianathan Clarke, Deenabandhu Manchala, and Philip Vinod Peacock (Oxford University Press, March 2010):
www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/ReligionTheology/Theology/?view=usa&ci=9780198066910
Publisher's description: "This work marks the beginning of a new Dalit self-understanding and a new appreciation for the changed landscape of the twenty-first century where the agency of Dalits in the area of theology has exploded the monopoly of caste interpretations in a significant manner. This volume addresses how despite its proud entry into the post-colonial, politically democratic twenty-first century world, India continues to straddle the structural inequalities and functional hierarchies based on its age-old caste system. It also looks at various Dalit, women, tribal, and other subaltern movements that struggle against insidious forms of caste-, class-, ethnicity- and religion-based violence and violation. A unique combination of Dalit theology with Dalit feminism and feminist theology, this book brings together the key directions and interests that Dalit Theology has taken in the new century."
Sathianathan Clarke is Professor of Theology, Culture and Mission and Bishop Sundo Kim Chair in World Christianity at Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC, USA.
Deenabandhu Manchala is Programme Executive for Just and Inclusive Communities in the Unity, Mission, Evangelism and Spirituality programme at the World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland.
Philip Vinod Peacock is Associate Professor at Bishop's College, Calcutta, India.
www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/ReligionTheology/Theology/?view=usa&ci=9780198066910
Publisher's description: "This work marks the beginning of a new Dalit self-understanding and a new appreciation for the changed landscape of the twenty-first century where the agency of Dalits in the area of theology has exploded the monopoly of caste interpretations in a significant manner. This volume addresses how despite its proud entry into the post-colonial, politically democratic twenty-first century world, India continues to straddle the structural inequalities and functional hierarchies based on its age-old caste system. It also looks at various Dalit, women, tribal, and other subaltern movements that struggle against insidious forms of caste-, class-, ethnicity- and religion-based violence and violation. A unique combination of Dalit theology with Dalit feminism and feminist theology, this book brings together the key directions and interests that Dalit Theology has taken in the new century."
Sathianathan Clarke is Professor of Theology, Culture and Mission and Bishop Sundo Kim Chair in World Christianity at Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC, USA.
Deenabandhu Manchala is Programme Executive for Just and Inclusive Communities in the Unity, Mission, Evangelism and Spirituality programme at the World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland.
Philip Vinod Peacock is Associate Professor at Bishop's College, Calcutta, India.
15 October 2010
Book: Lincoln and the Politics of Christian Love
Grant N. Havers, "Lincoln and the Politics of Christian Love" (University of Missouri Press, November 2009):
http://press.umsystem.edu/fall2009/havers.htm
From the publisher's description: "Abraham Lincoln extolled the merit of 'loving thy neighbor as thyself,' especially as a critique of the hypocrisy of slavery, but a discussion of Christian love is noticeably absent from today's debates about religion and democracy. In this provocative book, Grant Havers argues that charity is a central tenet of what Lincoln once called America's 'political religion.' He explores the implications of making Christian love the highest moral standard for American democracy, showing how Lincoln's legacy demands that a true democracy be charitable toward all – and that only a people who lived according to such ideals could succeed in building democracy as Lincoln understood it. [...] This carefully argued work defends Lincoln's understanding of charity as essential to democracy while emphasizing the difficulty of fusing this ethic with the desire to spread democracy to people who do not share America's Christian heritage. In considering the prospect of America's leaders rediscovering a moral foreign policy based on charity rather than the costly idolization of democracy, Lincoln and the Politics of Christian Love makes a timely contribution to the wider debate over both the meaning of religion in American politics and the mission of America in the world – and opens a new window on Lincoln's lasting legacy."
Excerpts: "Despite my discussion of political philosophy in the pages to follow, I am inclined to classify this work as political theology. Most secular academics tend to separate the two fields: political philosophy studies the human understanding of politics, while political theology reflects God's revelation. My contention is that, at least since Lincoln, this separation has never been successful in American political thought, although there have been many procrustean attempts to impose an artificial separation. The fact is that religion and politics have always been mutually dependent in American history [...]. Whereas [the founding fathers] Jay, Hamilton, and Madison are describing the meaning and process of government in profoundly secular terms (they rarely mention Christianity), Lincoln's speeches resonate with theological themes. Whereas The Federalist presents a new 'science of politics,' Lincoln offers a political theology. [...] Lincoln expected charity alone to be the primary foundation of a new political theology."
Grant N. Havers is Professor of Philosophy and Political Studies at Trinity Western University, Canada.
http://press.umsystem.edu/fall2009/havers.htm
From the publisher's description: "Abraham Lincoln extolled the merit of 'loving thy neighbor as thyself,' especially as a critique of the hypocrisy of slavery, but a discussion of Christian love is noticeably absent from today's debates about religion and democracy. In this provocative book, Grant Havers argues that charity is a central tenet of what Lincoln once called America's 'political religion.' He explores the implications of making Christian love the highest moral standard for American democracy, showing how Lincoln's legacy demands that a true democracy be charitable toward all – and that only a people who lived according to such ideals could succeed in building democracy as Lincoln understood it. [...] This carefully argued work defends Lincoln's understanding of charity as essential to democracy while emphasizing the difficulty of fusing this ethic with the desire to spread democracy to people who do not share America's Christian heritage. In considering the prospect of America's leaders rediscovering a moral foreign policy based on charity rather than the costly idolization of democracy, Lincoln and the Politics of Christian Love makes a timely contribution to the wider debate over both the meaning of religion in American politics and the mission of America in the world – and opens a new window on Lincoln's lasting legacy."
Excerpts: "Despite my discussion of political philosophy in the pages to follow, I am inclined to classify this work as political theology. Most secular academics tend to separate the two fields: political philosophy studies the human understanding of politics, while political theology reflects God's revelation. My contention is that, at least since Lincoln, this separation has never been successful in American political thought, although there have been many procrustean attempts to impose an artificial separation. The fact is that religion and politics have always been mutually dependent in American history [...]. Whereas [the founding fathers] Jay, Hamilton, and Madison are describing the meaning and process of government in profoundly secular terms (they rarely mention Christianity), Lincoln's speeches resonate with theological themes. Whereas The Federalist presents a new 'science of politics,' Lincoln offers a political theology. [...] Lincoln expected charity alone to be the primary foundation of a new political theology."
Grant N. Havers is Professor of Philosophy and Political Studies at Trinity Western University, Canada.
14 October 2010
Book: Islam as Political Religion: The Future of an Imperial Faith
Just published: Shabbir Akhtar, "Islam as Political Religion: The Future of an Imperial Faith" (Routledge, October 2010):
www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415781473/
Publisher's description: "This comprehensive survey of contemporary Islam provides a philosophical and theological approach to the issues faced by Muslims and the question of global secularisation. Engaging with critics of modern Islam, Shabbir Akhtar sets out an agenda of what his religion is and could be as a political entity. Exploring the views and arguments of philosophical, religious and political thinkers, the author covers a raft of issues faced by Muslims in an increasingly secular society. Chapters are devoted to the Qur'an and Islamic literature; the history of Islam; Sharia law; political Islam; Islamic ethics; and political Islam's evolving relationship with the West. Recommending changes which enable Muslims to move from their imperial past to a modest role in the power structures of today's society, Akhtar offers a detailed assessment of the limitations and possibilities of Islam in the modern world. Providing a vision for an empowered yet rational Islam that distances itself from both Islamist factions and Western secularism, this book is an essential read for students and scholars of Islamic studies, religion, philosophy and politics."
Shabbir Akhtar is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Old Dominion University.
www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415781473/
Publisher's description: "This comprehensive survey of contemporary Islam provides a philosophical and theological approach to the issues faced by Muslims and the question of global secularisation. Engaging with critics of modern Islam, Shabbir Akhtar sets out an agenda of what his religion is and could be as a political entity. Exploring the views and arguments of philosophical, religious and political thinkers, the author covers a raft of issues faced by Muslims in an increasingly secular society. Chapters are devoted to the Qur'an and Islamic literature; the history of Islam; Sharia law; political Islam; Islamic ethics; and political Islam's evolving relationship with the West. Recommending changes which enable Muslims to move from their imperial past to a modest role in the power structures of today's society, Akhtar offers a detailed assessment of the limitations and possibilities of Islam in the modern world. Providing a vision for an empowered yet rational Islam that distances itself from both Islamist factions and Western secularism, this book is an essential read for students and scholars of Islamic studies, religion, philosophy and politics."
Shabbir Akhtar is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Old Dominion University.
09 October 2010
Book: Emergency Politics: Paradox, Law, Democracy
Bonnie Honig, "Emergency Politics: Paradox, Law, Democracy" (Princeton University Press, August 2009):
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9040.html
Publisher's description: "This book intervenes in contemporary debates about the threat posed to democratic life by political emergencies. Must emergency necessarily enhance and centralize top-down forms of sovereignty? Those who oppose executive branch enhancement often turn instead to law, insisting on the sovereignty of the rule of law or demanding that law rather than force be used to resolve conflicts with enemies. But are these the only options? Or are there more democratic ways to respond to invocations of emergency politics? Looking at how emergencies in the past and present have shaped the development of democracy, Bonnie Honig argues that democratic politics are always a struggle to weigh the value of necessities – food, security, and housing – against the achievement of a richer life across the full range of human aspirations. Emphasizing the connections between mere life and more life, emergence and emergency, Honig argues that emergencies call us to attend anew to a neglected paradox of democratic politics: that we need good citizens with aspirational ideals to make good politics while we need good politics to infuse citizens with idealism. Honig takes a broad approach to emergency, considering immigration politics, new rights claims, contemporary food politics and the infrastructure of consumption, and the limits of law during the Red Scare of the early twentieth century. Taking its bearings from Moses Mendelssohn, Franz Rosenzweig, and other Jewish thinkers, this is a major contribution to modern thought about the challenges and risks of democratic orientation and action in response to emergency."
Excerpts: "In chapter 4, where I analyze the idea of 'miracle,' Schmitt's metaphor for the state of exception, I ask whether these identifications are themselves remnants of earlier debates in political theology about the status of the extraordinary – god and miracle or divine agency – in the ordinary human world. [...] Schmitt and Agamben's 'state of exception,' I think it is fair to say, has captured the imagination of contemporary political theory. In this chapter, I seek to loosen its hold on our imagination by pluralizing the particular political theology on which Schmitt's account is based and from which it draws sustenance."
Endorsements: "What a compelling idea to take Franz Rosenzweig as an original political thinker and antagonist to Carl Schmitt. In this book, Bonnie Honig shows that political theory and Judaism can be read differently, not simply to deconstruct them but in order to reshape democratic theory beyond its paradox." (Adriana Cavarero, University of Verona)
"This is an exciting book. Its fresh and bold approach to such long-studied questions of politics as founding, membership, legitimation, rights, liberation, cosmopolitanism, exception, discretion, and law invites a fundamental shift in perspective that substantially advances political science." (Jill Frank, University of South Carolina)
Bonnie Honig is Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation in Chicago.
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9040.html
Publisher's description: "This book intervenes in contemporary debates about the threat posed to democratic life by political emergencies. Must emergency necessarily enhance and centralize top-down forms of sovereignty? Those who oppose executive branch enhancement often turn instead to law, insisting on the sovereignty of the rule of law or demanding that law rather than force be used to resolve conflicts with enemies. But are these the only options? Or are there more democratic ways to respond to invocations of emergency politics? Looking at how emergencies in the past and present have shaped the development of democracy, Bonnie Honig argues that democratic politics are always a struggle to weigh the value of necessities – food, security, and housing – against the achievement of a richer life across the full range of human aspirations. Emphasizing the connections between mere life and more life, emergence and emergency, Honig argues that emergencies call us to attend anew to a neglected paradox of democratic politics: that we need good citizens with aspirational ideals to make good politics while we need good politics to infuse citizens with idealism. Honig takes a broad approach to emergency, considering immigration politics, new rights claims, contemporary food politics and the infrastructure of consumption, and the limits of law during the Red Scare of the early twentieth century. Taking its bearings from Moses Mendelssohn, Franz Rosenzweig, and other Jewish thinkers, this is a major contribution to modern thought about the challenges and risks of democratic orientation and action in response to emergency."
Excerpts: "In chapter 4, where I analyze the idea of 'miracle,' Schmitt's metaphor for the state of exception, I ask whether these identifications are themselves remnants of earlier debates in political theology about the status of the extraordinary – god and miracle or divine agency – in the ordinary human world. [...] Schmitt and Agamben's 'state of exception,' I think it is fair to say, has captured the imagination of contemporary political theory. In this chapter, I seek to loosen its hold on our imagination by pluralizing the particular political theology on which Schmitt's account is based and from which it draws sustenance."
Endorsements: "What a compelling idea to take Franz Rosenzweig as an original political thinker and antagonist to Carl Schmitt. In this book, Bonnie Honig shows that political theory and Judaism can be read differently, not simply to deconstruct them but in order to reshape democratic theory beyond its paradox." (Adriana Cavarero, University of Verona)
"This is an exciting book. Its fresh and bold approach to such long-studied questions of politics as founding, membership, legitimation, rights, liberation, cosmopolitanism, exception, discretion, and law invites a fundamental shift in perspective that substantially advances political science." (Jill Frank, University of South Carolina)
Bonnie Honig is Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation in Chicago.
08 October 2010
CONF: 2010 meeting of the American Academy of Religion
Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 30 October-1 November 2010
The increase in panels and papers accepted concerned with political theology that was to be observed at last year's AAR meeting continues this year.
First, the multi-year "Theology and the Political Consultation" will resume with a panel titled "Political Theology, Jewish, and Democratic: A Discussion of Bonnie Honig's Emergency Politics (Princeton University Press, 2009)" (A30-336, 30 October, 4.00-6.30 pm, Marriott Marquis/Marquis Ballroom C).
Description: "If Carl Schmitt offers an account of Christian political theology, what would a Jewish political theology look like? Instead of focusing on the exceptional moment, it would see every moment as exceptional. Instead of focusing on a single, transcendent sovereign, it would focus on sovereignty shared by a people and its leaders. Instead of opposing administrative discretion to juridical determinism, it would see discretion in law and determinism in administrative actions. Carl Schmitt is displaced by Franz Rosenzweig. In short, Jewish political theology is the political theology of democratic theory. These are among the claims of Bonnie Honig's Emergency Politics: Paradox, Law, Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2009). This panel will feature a critical dialogue about Honig's text. Some panelists will engage the text from a Jewish studies perspective, examining its extensive use of Rosenzweig and other Jewish sources; other panelists will engage the text as an intervention in conversations about religion and democratic theory, examining the provocative claims it makes about, for example, the political significance of miracles."
Participants: Gregory Kaplan (Rice University), presiding; Jeffrey Stout (Princeton); Nancy Levene (Indiana University); Martin Kavka (Florida State University); George Shulman (New York University); and Bonnie Honig (Northwestern University), responding
Second, the "Study of Judaism Section" and the "Critical Theory and Discourses on Religion Group" have organized a panel on "Antisemitism and Its Afterlives: Christian Studies of Judaism and the Construction of Modernity" (A31-309, 31 October, 5.00-6.30 pm, Marriott Marquis/M105).
Description: "Recent reevaluations of the secular order, for example that of Gil Anidjar, have pointed to the continuity of that order with the self-definition of Christian tradition against Judaism. Secular modernity borrowed certain of its narratives – notably, universalism and supersessionism – from Paul's definition of the Gospel as a universal dispensation of 'grace' that transcended the particularities of Jewish 'law.' Philosophers such as Jacob Taubes, Giorgio Agamben, and Alain Badiou have rediscovered the relevance of such theological categories for an understanding of the political theology of modernity. However, much historical work remains to be done to show how these categories were appropriated, altered, and sometimes inverted in the course of the self-transformation of European Christian civilization into an ostensibly secular modernity. Each of the papers on this panel contributes to filling in this genealogy, by retracing a part of the complex web of connections that connects modernity to earlier forms of Christian anti-Judaism. From Deists and their opponents in 17th-century England, to the Enlightenment philosophy of Immanuel Kant, to the 20th-century sociological project of Talcott Parsons, Judaism played a key role as the primary 'Other,' stubborn residue, and chief stumbling-block against which modernity defined itself."
Participants: Jerome Copulsky (Goucher College); Robert Yelle (University of Memphis), "Antisemitism at the Roots of Modern Ecumenicalism: The Deist Construction of 'Natural Religion' against Jewish Ritual and Revelation"; Bruce Rosenstock (University of Illinois), "Judaism and the Dialectical History of Religion: The Afterlife of Bishop Warburton's Divine Legation of Moses"; Leah Hochman (Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion), "Who's the (Ugly) Stick-in-the-Mud?: Kant, Judaism, and (Beauty's) Freedom"; and Jonathan Judaken (University of Memphis), "Talcott Parsons, Ambivalent Liberalism, and the Sociology of Modern Anti-Semitism"
Third, the "Explorations in Theology and the Apocalyptic" working group offers a panel on "Aspects of the Political Theology of Johann Baptist Metz" (M31-401, 31 October, 6.30-9.00 pm, Marriott Marquis/L403).
Description: "This is the second of two sessions exploring apocalyptic themes in contemporary Christian theology."
Participants: Benjamin Myers (Charles Sturt University), presiding; Matthew Eggemeier (College of the Holy Cross), "Christianity or Nihilism?: The Apocalyptic Discourses of Johann Baptist Metz and Friedrich Nietzsche"; Jason McKinney (University of Toronto), "The Sins of the Father: Suffering, Guilt, and Redemption in Benjamin and Metz"; Christopher Craig Brittain (University of Aberdeen), "Positivity and Negativity in Political Theology: Metz and Adorno on the Nature of Apocalyptic Hope"; and Kyle Gingerich Hiebert (University of Manchester), "The Architectonics of Hope: On the Tragic Configuration of Johann Baptist Metz's New Political Theology"
Fourth, the "Theology of Martin Luther King Jr. Consultation" has put together a panel on "The Promised Land: Political Theology and Contemporary Social Movements" (A30-236, 30 October, 1.00-3.30 pm, Marriott Marquis/Marquis Ballroom B).
Participants: Hak Joon Lee (New Brunswick Theological Seminary), presiding; Lane Van Ham (University of Arizona), "Undocumented Immigration and the 'World House': Spirituality in the Immigrant Advocacy Movement"; Rosemary P. Carbine (Whittier College), "Transforming Spaces for Social Change: Prophetic Praxis in the United States Civil Rights and New Sanctuary Movements"; Karen V. Guth (University of Virginia), "Beyond Nonviolence: The Feminist/Womanist Political Theology of Martin Luther King Jr."; Frederick L. Ware (Howard University), "'Prophesy the Common Good!': The Promise and Problem of Moral Realism in the Political Theology of Martin Luther King Jr."; Rosetta E. Ross (Spelman College), responding
Fifth, "The Word Made Fresh", an annual lectureship held in conjunction with the Society of Evangelical Scholars (M29-411, 29 October, 7.00-9.00 pm, Marriott Marquis/International 6).
Description: "The Word Made Fresh [...] seeks to stimulate creative dialogue among scholars on themes reflective of evangelical Christianity".
Participants: Thomas Oord (Northwest Nazarene University), presiding; Amos Yong (Regent University), "In the Days of Caesar: Pentecostalism and Political Theology"; J. Kameron Carter (Duke University), responding; Serene Jones (Union Theological Seminary), responding; Graham Ward (University of Manchester), responding
Sixth, the "Søren Kierkegaard Society" panel on "Selfhood, Church, and Society" (M30-124, 30 October, 9.00 am-12.00 pm, Marriott Marquis/International 3) includes a paper by Robert L. Perkins (Stetson University), "Kierkegaard's Political Theology".
Seventh, the "Religion and Politics Section" panel on "Religion and Politics in Theory and Practice" (A31-105, 31 October, 9.00-11.30 am, Marriott Marquis/A706) includes a paper by John Senior (Emory University), "Tradition Reconsidered: Political Theology, Narrative, and the Formation of Political Identities".
Eight, the "Reformed Theology and History Group" panel on "Reformed Churches and Historically Marginalized People" (A30-325, 30 October, 4.00-6.30 pm, Marriott Marquis/A706) includes a paper by Matthew J. Tuininga (Emory University), "Reformulating the Two Kingdoms Paradigm: A Political Theological Approach to Racism".
The AAR annual meeting online programme (including abstracts of the papers, if provided) is available and searchable at:
http://meeting.aarweb.org/
Further information and registration:
www.aarweb.org/Meetings/Annual_Meeting/Current_Meeting/default.asp
The increase in panels and papers accepted concerned with political theology that was to be observed at last year's AAR meeting continues this year.
First, the multi-year "Theology and the Political Consultation" will resume with a panel titled "Political Theology, Jewish, and Democratic: A Discussion of Bonnie Honig's Emergency Politics (Princeton University Press, 2009)" (A30-336, 30 October, 4.00-6.30 pm, Marriott Marquis/Marquis Ballroom C).
Description: "If Carl Schmitt offers an account of Christian political theology, what would a Jewish political theology look like? Instead of focusing on the exceptional moment, it would see every moment as exceptional. Instead of focusing on a single, transcendent sovereign, it would focus on sovereignty shared by a people and its leaders. Instead of opposing administrative discretion to juridical determinism, it would see discretion in law and determinism in administrative actions. Carl Schmitt is displaced by Franz Rosenzweig. In short, Jewish political theology is the political theology of democratic theory. These are among the claims of Bonnie Honig's Emergency Politics: Paradox, Law, Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2009). This panel will feature a critical dialogue about Honig's text. Some panelists will engage the text from a Jewish studies perspective, examining its extensive use of Rosenzweig and other Jewish sources; other panelists will engage the text as an intervention in conversations about religion and democratic theory, examining the provocative claims it makes about, for example, the political significance of miracles."
Participants: Gregory Kaplan (Rice University), presiding; Jeffrey Stout (Princeton); Nancy Levene (Indiana University); Martin Kavka (Florida State University); George Shulman (New York University); and Bonnie Honig (Northwestern University), responding
Second, the "Study of Judaism Section" and the "Critical Theory and Discourses on Religion Group" have organized a panel on "Antisemitism and Its Afterlives: Christian Studies of Judaism and the Construction of Modernity" (A31-309, 31 October, 5.00-6.30 pm, Marriott Marquis/M105).
Description: "Recent reevaluations of the secular order, for example that of Gil Anidjar, have pointed to the continuity of that order with the self-definition of Christian tradition against Judaism. Secular modernity borrowed certain of its narratives – notably, universalism and supersessionism – from Paul's definition of the Gospel as a universal dispensation of 'grace' that transcended the particularities of Jewish 'law.' Philosophers such as Jacob Taubes, Giorgio Agamben, and Alain Badiou have rediscovered the relevance of such theological categories for an understanding of the political theology of modernity. However, much historical work remains to be done to show how these categories were appropriated, altered, and sometimes inverted in the course of the self-transformation of European Christian civilization into an ostensibly secular modernity. Each of the papers on this panel contributes to filling in this genealogy, by retracing a part of the complex web of connections that connects modernity to earlier forms of Christian anti-Judaism. From Deists and their opponents in 17th-century England, to the Enlightenment philosophy of Immanuel Kant, to the 20th-century sociological project of Talcott Parsons, Judaism played a key role as the primary 'Other,' stubborn residue, and chief stumbling-block against which modernity defined itself."
Participants: Jerome Copulsky (Goucher College); Robert Yelle (University of Memphis), "Antisemitism at the Roots of Modern Ecumenicalism: The Deist Construction of 'Natural Religion' against Jewish Ritual and Revelation"; Bruce Rosenstock (University of Illinois), "Judaism and the Dialectical History of Religion: The Afterlife of Bishop Warburton's Divine Legation of Moses"; Leah Hochman (Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion), "Who's the (Ugly) Stick-in-the-Mud?: Kant, Judaism, and (Beauty's) Freedom"; and Jonathan Judaken (University of Memphis), "Talcott Parsons, Ambivalent Liberalism, and the Sociology of Modern Anti-Semitism"
Third, the "Explorations in Theology and the Apocalyptic" working group offers a panel on "Aspects of the Political Theology of Johann Baptist Metz" (M31-401, 31 October, 6.30-9.00 pm, Marriott Marquis/L403).
Description: "This is the second of two sessions exploring apocalyptic themes in contemporary Christian theology."
Participants: Benjamin Myers (Charles Sturt University), presiding; Matthew Eggemeier (College of the Holy Cross), "Christianity or Nihilism?: The Apocalyptic Discourses of Johann Baptist Metz and Friedrich Nietzsche"; Jason McKinney (University of Toronto), "The Sins of the Father: Suffering, Guilt, and Redemption in Benjamin and Metz"; Christopher Craig Brittain (University of Aberdeen), "Positivity and Negativity in Political Theology: Metz and Adorno on the Nature of Apocalyptic Hope"; and Kyle Gingerich Hiebert (University of Manchester), "The Architectonics of Hope: On the Tragic Configuration of Johann Baptist Metz's New Political Theology"
Fourth, the "Theology of Martin Luther King Jr. Consultation" has put together a panel on "The Promised Land: Political Theology and Contemporary Social Movements" (A30-236, 30 October, 1.00-3.30 pm, Marriott Marquis/Marquis Ballroom B).
Participants: Hak Joon Lee (New Brunswick Theological Seminary), presiding; Lane Van Ham (University of Arizona), "Undocumented Immigration and the 'World House': Spirituality in the Immigrant Advocacy Movement"; Rosemary P. Carbine (Whittier College), "Transforming Spaces for Social Change: Prophetic Praxis in the United States Civil Rights and New Sanctuary Movements"; Karen V. Guth (University of Virginia), "Beyond Nonviolence: The Feminist/Womanist Political Theology of Martin Luther King Jr."; Frederick L. Ware (Howard University), "'Prophesy the Common Good!': The Promise and Problem of Moral Realism in the Political Theology of Martin Luther King Jr."; Rosetta E. Ross (Spelman College), responding
Fifth, "The Word Made Fresh", an annual lectureship held in conjunction with the Society of Evangelical Scholars (M29-411, 29 October, 7.00-9.00 pm, Marriott Marquis/International 6).
Description: "The Word Made Fresh [...] seeks to stimulate creative dialogue among scholars on themes reflective of evangelical Christianity".
Participants: Thomas Oord (Northwest Nazarene University), presiding; Amos Yong (Regent University), "In the Days of Caesar: Pentecostalism and Political Theology"; J. Kameron Carter (Duke University), responding; Serene Jones (Union Theological Seminary), responding; Graham Ward (University of Manchester), responding
Sixth, the "Søren Kierkegaard Society" panel on "Selfhood, Church, and Society" (M30-124, 30 October, 9.00 am-12.00 pm, Marriott Marquis/International 3) includes a paper by Robert L. Perkins (Stetson University), "Kierkegaard's Political Theology".
Seventh, the "Religion and Politics Section" panel on "Religion and Politics in Theory and Practice" (A31-105, 31 October, 9.00-11.30 am, Marriott Marquis/A706) includes a paper by John Senior (Emory University), "Tradition Reconsidered: Political Theology, Narrative, and the Formation of Political Identities".
Eight, the "Reformed Theology and History Group" panel on "Reformed Churches and Historically Marginalized People" (A30-325, 30 October, 4.00-6.30 pm, Marriott Marquis/A706) includes a paper by Matthew J. Tuininga (Emory University), "Reformulating the Two Kingdoms Paradigm: A Political Theological Approach to Racism".
The AAR annual meeting online programme (including abstracts of the papers, if provided) is available and searchable at:
http://meeting.aarweb.org/
Further information and registration:
www.aarweb.org/Meetings/Annual_Meeting/Current_Meeting/default.asp
02 October 2010
Book: City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era
Just published: Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner, "City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era" (Moody Publishers, October 2010):
www.moodypublishers.com/Publishers/default.asp?SectionID=86DE745783B8435ABFF5832DD9E4C78A&action=details&subid=204BCB5054FD40A6ABFC38298A8E6CE9
Publisher's description: "An era has ended. The political expression that most galvanized evangelicals during the past quarter-century, the Religious Right, is fading. What's ahead is unclear. Millions of faith-based voters still exist, and they continue to care deeply about hot-button issues like abortion and gay marriage, but the shape of their future political engagement remains to be formed. Into this uncertainty, former White House insiders Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner seek to call evangelicals toward a new kind of political engagement – a kind that is better both for the church and the country, a kind that cannot be co-opted by either political party, a kind that avoids the historic mistakes of both the Religious Left and the Religious Right. Incisive, bold, and marked equally by pragmatism and idealism, Gerson and Wehner's new book has the potential to chart a new political future not just for values voters, but for the nation as a whole."
From the foreword by Timothy J. Keller (Westminster Theological Seminary): "A very large number of young evangelicals believe that their churches have become as captured by the Right as mainline churches were captured by the Left. Michael and Pete recognize this and largely agree. But they counsel that political withdrawal is not the correct response, nor should alienated evangelicals go down the mainline path. Instead, they urge careful theological reflection, and the rest of this short volume serves as a guidebook to the issues that will have to be addressed, rather than as a finished manifesto of what this new political theology must be."
Review: "Figuring out the appropriate relationship between politics and religion for Christians is a daunting task. Yet Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner have succeeded brilliantly. In City of Man, they spell out a political theology for 21st century Christians that rejects the narrow thinking of the Religious Right and the creeping secularism of the Religious Left. City of Man is a two-fer. It's an enormously important book on politics and on religion." (Fred Barnes, "Weekly Standard")
Michael Gerson is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center on Faith and International Affairs of the Institute for Global Engagement. Formerly, he served as policy advisor and chief speechwriter to US President George W. Bush.
Peter Wehner is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Under George W. Bush, he served as director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives.
www.moodypublishers.com/Publishers/default.asp?SectionID=86DE745783B8435ABFF5832DD9E4C78A&action=details&subid=204BCB5054FD40A6ABFC38298A8E6CE9
Publisher's description: "An era has ended. The political expression that most galvanized evangelicals during the past quarter-century, the Religious Right, is fading. What's ahead is unclear. Millions of faith-based voters still exist, and they continue to care deeply about hot-button issues like abortion and gay marriage, but the shape of their future political engagement remains to be formed. Into this uncertainty, former White House insiders Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner seek to call evangelicals toward a new kind of political engagement – a kind that is better both for the church and the country, a kind that cannot be co-opted by either political party, a kind that avoids the historic mistakes of both the Religious Left and the Religious Right. Incisive, bold, and marked equally by pragmatism and idealism, Gerson and Wehner's new book has the potential to chart a new political future not just for values voters, but for the nation as a whole."
From the foreword by Timothy J. Keller (Westminster Theological Seminary): "A very large number of young evangelicals believe that their churches have become as captured by the Right as mainline churches were captured by the Left. Michael and Pete recognize this and largely agree. But they counsel that political withdrawal is not the correct response, nor should alienated evangelicals go down the mainline path. Instead, they urge careful theological reflection, and the rest of this short volume serves as a guidebook to the issues that will have to be addressed, rather than as a finished manifesto of what this new political theology must be."
Review: "Figuring out the appropriate relationship between politics and religion for Christians is a daunting task. Yet Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner have succeeded brilliantly. In City of Man, they spell out a political theology for 21st century Christians that rejects the narrow thinking of the Religious Right and the creeping secularism of the Religious Left. City of Man is a two-fer. It's an enormously important book on politics and on religion." (Fred Barnes, "Weekly Standard")
Michael Gerson is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center on Faith and International Affairs of the Institute for Global Engagement. Formerly, he served as policy advisor and chief speechwriter to US President George W. Bush.
Peter Wehner is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Under George W. Bush, he served as director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives.
01 October 2010
Book: Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom
Just published: Peter J. Leithart, "Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom" (InterVarsity Press, September 2010):
www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=2722
Publisher's description: "We know that Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313; outlawed paganism and made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire; manipulated the Council of Nicea in 325; exercised absolute authority over the church, co-opting it for the aims of empire[.] And if Constantine the emperor were not problem enough, we all know that Constantinianism has been very bad for the church. Or do we know these things? Peter Leithart weighs these claims and finds them wanting. And what's more, in focusing on these historical mirages we have failed to notice the true significance of Constantine and Rome baptized. For beneath the surface of this contested story there emerges a deeper narrative of the end of Roman sacrifice – a tectonic shift in the political theology of an empire – and with far-reaching implications. In this probing and informative book Peter Leithart examines the real Constantine, weighs the charges against Constantinianism, and sets the terms for a new conversation about this pivotal emperor and the Christendom that emerged."
Endorsements: "This intelligent and sensitive treatment of one of the great military emperors of Rome is a trustworthy entrée into Roman history that loses none of the romance and rambunctiousness of the events of the era of the civil war, but which also explains why Constantine matters: why he was important to the ancient world, why he matters to the development of Christianity (a catalyst in its movement from small sect to world-embracing cultural force). It does not whitewash or damn on the basis of a preset ideology, but it certainly does explain why Constantine gained from the Christians the epithet 'The Great.' For setting the record straight, and for providing a sense of the complicated lay of the land, this book comes most highly recommended." (John A. McGuckin, Columbia University)
"An excellent writer with a flair for the dramatic, Peter Leithart is also one of the most incisive current thinkers on questions of theology and politics. In this book, Leithart helpfully complicates Christian history, and thereby helps theologians recover the riches of more than a millennium of Christian life too easily dismissed as 'Constantinian.' If the Holy Spirit did not simply go on holiday during that period, we must find ways to appreciate Christendom. Any worthwhile political theology today cannot fail to take Leithart's argument seriously." (William T. Cavanaugh, DePaul University)
Peter J. Leithart is Senior Fellow of Theology at New Saint Andrews College and pastor of Trinity Reformed Church, both in Moscow, Idaho, USA.
www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=2722
Publisher's description: "We know that Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313; outlawed paganism and made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire; manipulated the Council of Nicea in 325; exercised absolute authority over the church, co-opting it for the aims of empire[.] And if Constantine the emperor were not problem enough, we all know that Constantinianism has been very bad for the church. Or do we know these things? Peter Leithart weighs these claims and finds them wanting. And what's more, in focusing on these historical mirages we have failed to notice the true significance of Constantine and Rome baptized. For beneath the surface of this contested story there emerges a deeper narrative of the end of Roman sacrifice – a tectonic shift in the political theology of an empire – and with far-reaching implications. In this probing and informative book Peter Leithart examines the real Constantine, weighs the charges against Constantinianism, and sets the terms for a new conversation about this pivotal emperor and the Christendom that emerged."
Endorsements: "This intelligent and sensitive treatment of one of the great military emperors of Rome is a trustworthy entrée into Roman history that loses none of the romance and rambunctiousness of the events of the era of the civil war, but which also explains why Constantine matters: why he was important to the ancient world, why he matters to the development of Christianity (a catalyst in its movement from small sect to world-embracing cultural force). It does not whitewash or damn on the basis of a preset ideology, but it certainly does explain why Constantine gained from the Christians the epithet 'The Great.' For setting the record straight, and for providing a sense of the complicated lay of the land, this book comes most highly recommended." (John A. McGuckin, Columbia University)
"An excellent writer with a flair for the dramatic, Peter Leithart is also one of the most incisive current thinkers on questions of theology and politics. In this book, Leithart helpfully complicates Christian history, and thereby helps theologians recover the riches of more than a millennium of Christian life too easily dismissed as 'Constantinian.' If the Holy Spirit did not simply go on holiday during that period, we must find ways to appreciate Christendom. Any worthwhile political theology today cannot fail to take Leithart's argument seriously." (William T. Cavanaugh, DePaul University)
Peter J. Leithart is Senior Fellow of Theology at New Saint Andrews College and pastor of Trinity Reformed Church, both in Moscow, Idaho, USA.
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