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

Book: Manifesto of the Critical Theory of Society and Religion

Just published: Rudolf Siebert's "Manifesto of the Critical Theory of Society and Religion: The Wholly Other, Liberation, Happiness and the Rescue of the Hopeless" in three unaffordable volumes (Brill, August 2010):

www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=30475

Publisher's description: "The Manifesto develops further the Critical Theory of Religion intrinsic to the Critical Theory of Society of the Frankfurt School into a new paradigm of the Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy and Theology of Religion. Its central theme is the theodicy problem. The Manifesto approaches this theme in the framework of comparative religion and critical political theology in a narrative and discursive fashion. In search of a solution to the theodicy problem, the Manifesto explores, [sic] trends in civil society toward Alternative Future I (the Totally Administered Society), Alternative Future II (the Militarized Society), and Alternative Future III (the Reconciled Society) in the horizon of the longing for the Wholly Other as perfect justice and unconditional love. Toward that goal it relies on both the critical theory of society as developed by Max Horkheimer, Ernst Bloch, Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno, and others, and on the new political theology of Johannes B. Metz, Helmut Peukert, and Edmund Arens."

German-born Rudolf Siebert is Professor of Religion and Society at Western Michigan University.

Book: Theology and the Boundary Discourse of Human Rights

Ethna Regan, "Theology and the Boundary Discourse of Human Rights" (Georgetown University Press, April 2010):

http://press.georgetown.edu/detail.html?id=9781589016422

Publisher's description: "What are human rights? Can theology acknowledge human rights discourse? Is theological engagement with human rights justified? What place should this discourse occupy within ethics? Ethna Regan seeks to answer these questions about human rights, Christian theology, and philosophical ethics. The main purpose of this book is to justify and explore theological engagement with human rights. Regan illustrates how that engagement is both ecumenical and diverse, citing the emerging engagement with human rights discourse by evangelical theologians in response to the War on Terror. The book examines where the themes and concerns of key modern theologians – Karl Rahner, J. B. Metz, Jon Sobrino, and Ignacio Ellacuría – converge with the themes and concerns of those committed to the advancement of human rights. Regan also critically engages with the 'disdain' for rights discourse that is found in the postliberal critiques of John Milbank and Stanley Hauerwas. This interdisciplinary volume will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of systematic theology, theological ethics, human rights, religion and politics, and political theory."

The book includes sections on both political theology and liberation theology.

Ethna Regan is a Lecturer in the School of Theology at the Mater Dei Institute of Education, Dublin City University.

Book: Political Theology: Schmitt – Derrida – Metz (in German)

Michaela Rissing and Thilo Rissing are the authors of the monograph "Politische Theologie: Schmitt – Derrida – Metz: Eine Einführung"
(Political Theology: Schmitt – Derrida – Metz: An Introduction; my translation), published by the German Wilhelm Fink Verlag in August 2009:

www.fink.de/katalog/titel/978-3-7705-4871-2.html

From the publisher's description: "'Political theology' – a term as suggestive as controversial. Depending on whether one views it from a political, philosophical or theological perspective, it reveals different guiding principles that traverse its conceptual field in diverging directions, cross each other or even converge. Starting from the political theology of Carl Schmitt, [...] the authors continue with an exposition of the thinking of Jacques Derrida [... and] the model of the new political theology of Johann Baptist Metz. The question is asked as to whether theology is political and, conversely, politics remains bound to theological figures of thought even under secular conditions." (my rough translation)

I can find no reliable biographical information about the authors who have, between them, published a number of books before this.

CFP: Engagements with the Political Theology of Johannes Baptist Metz

Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 30 October-1 November 2010

In addition to the AAR calls for papers posted here last month, the "Explorations in Christian Theology and Apocalyptic" working group has released a call for individual paper proposals for an "additional meeting" on the following topic: "Engagements with the Political Theology of Johannes Baptist Metz".

http://theologyandapocalyptic.wordpress.com

They especially welcome proposals that engage the turn to apocalyptic within Metz's theology and the ideas particularly associated with this turn in his theology, such as: the 'eschatological reserve', 'dangerous memory', the Second Coming, discipleship, mysticism and prayer, the relation of the Kingdom of God to history, the nature and definition of 'the political' and political authority/sovereignty (particularly 'the authority of those who suffer'), and martyrdom/witness. They also encourage proposals that explore these themes by bringing Metz into critical conversation with other political and liberationist theologians (such as Jürgen Moltmann, Gustavo Gutierrez, and Jon Sobrino), political theorists (such as Walter Benjamin, Carl Schmitt, and Giorgio Agamben), and prominent political activists and theologians (such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, William Stringfellow, Jacques Ellul, and Will Campbell).

Paper presentations will be approx. 20 minutes in length and the panel will include an invited respondent.

Proposals should include your name, institutional affiliation, and the title(s) of the proposed paper(s), as well as a 250 word abstract for each proposed paper.

Please submit proposals via email to Nathan Kerr (Trevecca Nazarene University): nkerr@trevecca.edu
and/or Philip Ziegler (University of Aberdeen): p.ziegler@abdn.ac.uk

Deadline: 22 March 2010

For the earlier AAR calls for papers on political theology (with a deadline of 1 March 2010) and further information on the conference, see:

www.political-theology.com/2010/01/cfp-political-theology-at-aar-2010.html

Recent books on German "new political theology"

Volume 5 of the German "Jahrbuch Politische Theologie" (literally, "Yearbook" Political Theology, but only really published four times since 1995) was released in 2008 under the title "Politische Theologie – gegengelesen" (hard to translate, as "gegenlesen" can mean anything from proof-reading to cross-examination; the book's intention seems to lie in corrections, criticism, expansion, even a re-focusing).

The volume's co-editor – with Bernd Wacker –, Jürgen Manemann (Professor of Christian Weltanschauung, Religious and Cultural Theory at the University of Erfurt), is a former student of Johann Baptist Metz, who introduced the concept of "new political theology" in the 1960s (without obvious reference to Carl Schmitt's prior "old" political theology). Manemann and Wacker are also involved in the running of the "Ahauser Forum Politische Theologie", a series of events that have been organized sporadically in the German town of Ahaus since 1998.

This book has now become available for perusal on Google Book Search:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XCAxxyXHtOYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

There you will also find a list of contents and contributors.

On occasion of Metz' 80th birthday last year, the LIT Verlag (publishers of the "Jahrbuch" series) also released, in 2009, an edited collection, "Theologisch-politische Vergewisserungen: Ein Arbeitsbuch aus dem Schüler- und Freundeskreis von Johann Baptist Metz" (Theological-political [self-]re-assurances/verifications: a workbook from the circle of students and friends of Johann Baptist Metz), edited by Thomas Polednitschek, Michael J. Rainer, and José Antonio Zamora:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=a4GcbbBQCbQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Like the "Jahrbuch", this collection seeks to re-assess and further develop Metz' concept of a political theology "after Auschwitz", influenced by Marxism, defined by the "dangerous memory" of the suffering of humans and Christ alike, confronting both the past and the future.

Two more monographs on political theology have already been announced by the LIT Verlag and will be published shortly: Thomas Polednitschek's "Der politische Sokrates: Erfahrungen eines Philosophischen Praktikers an der Grenze zu Psychotherapie und Politischer Theologie" (The political Socrates: Experiences of a philosophical practitioner on the border to psychotherapy and political theology); and Seok-Guy Lee's "'Leidenserinnerung' in der Politischen Theologie von J.B. Metz und 'Leiderfahrung' in der Minjung-Theologie Südkoreas" ("Memory of suffering" in the political theology of J.B. Metz and "experience of suffering" in the Minjung theology of South Korea).