Book: Christians as Political Animals: Taking the Measure of Modernity and Modern Democracy

Just published: Marc D. Guerra, "Christians as Political Animals: Taking the Measure of Modernity and Modern Democracy" (ISI Books, June 2010):

www.isi.org/books/bookdetail.aspx?id=db0c0099-2584-4473-bd25-29da15c82fd8

Publisher's description: "While it is common for today's secularists to push organized religion to the margins of politics, it is equally common for Christians to believe that modern democracy is the only type of regime compatible with their faith. But in fact, this belief cannot be squared with the long and rich tradition of Christian political thought, as Marc D. Guerra makes clear in Christians as Political Animals. Guerra shows that a problematic shift occurred when Christian thinkers began to argue that their religion received its best political articulation in democracy. Calling on thinkers ranging from Augustine and Aquinas to twentieth-century theologians and political philosophers, Guerra argues that while modern democracy and its various attendant goods should be affirmed, Christian thought must recognize the limited scope of the political realm and maintain the proper critical distance. Christians as Political Animals reminds modern democracy of a truth it is prone to forget: civil society relies on extrapolitical goods such as love, friendship, morality, and faith for its health and survival." (bold removed)

Endorsement: "This lucid and wonderfully thoughtful book challenges two regnant orthodoxies of the day: that democracy is the political correlate of Christianity and that Christianity is reducible to a humanitarian moral message. Christians as Political Animals is a most welcome guide for confronting the theological-political problem in a democratic age." (Daniel J. Mahoney, Assumption College)

Marc D. Guerra is Assistant Professor of Theology at Ave Maria University.

Book: Forrester on Christian Ethics and Practical Theology

Just published (at a price): Duncan B. Forrester, "Forrester on Christian Ethics and Practical Theology: Collected Writings on Christianity, India, and the Social Order" (Ashgate, June 2010):

www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&title_id=8515&edition_id=11167

Publisher's description: "Bringing together articles and chapters from his considerable work in theological ethics, India, and the social order, Duncan Forrester incorporates new writing and introductions to each thematic section to guide readers through this invaluable resource. This book offers stimulating studies in three related areas – Indian Christianity with particular attention to the caste system, contemporary Christian theological ethics, and the distinctive and challenging theological approach that Duncan Forrester has developed in relation to public issues such as prisons and punishment, welfare provision, social justice, and poverty."

From the contents: Part IV Political Theology: Introduction; The political teaching of Luther (1483-1546) and Calvin (1509-1564); The political teaching of Richard Hooker (1553-1600); The problem of natural law in theology and social science; The attack on Christendom in Marx and Kierkegaard; Mystique and politique; The theological task; The promise of liberation theology; The Church, theology and the poor; Can liberation theology survive 1989?; Violence and non-violence in conflict resolution: some theological reflections; Social justice in Protestant thought. Part V Public Theology: Introduction; The scope of public theology: what is public theology?; Punishment and prisons in a morally fragmented society; Ethics and salvation; Education and moral values: who educates?; Welfare and conviction politics; Epilogue: public theology in an age of terror

Duncan B. Forrester is Professor Emeritus of Christian Ethics and Practical Theology at the University of Edinburgh.

Book: Politics Reformed: The Anglo-American Legacy of Covenant Theology

Just published: Glenn A. Moots, "Politics Reformed: The Anglo-American Legacy of Covenant Theology" (University of Missouri Press, June 2010):

http://press.umsystem.edu/spring2010/moots.htm

Publisher's description: "Many studies have considered the Bible's relationship to politics, but almost all have ignored the heart of its narrative and theology: the covenant. In this book, Glenn Moots explores the political meaning of covenants past and present by focusing on the theory and application of covenantal politics from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Moots demands that we revisit political theology because it served as the most important school of politics in early modern Europe and America. He describes the strengths of the covenant tradition while also presenting its limitations and dangers. Contemporary political scientists such as Eric Voegelin, Daniel Elazar, and David Novak are called on to provide insight into both the covenant's history and its relevance today.

"Moots's work chronicles and critiques the covenant tradition while warning against both political ideology and religious enthusiasm. It provides an inclusive and objective outline of covenantal politics by considering the variations of Reformed theology and their respective consequences for political practice. This includes a careful account of how covenant theology took root on the European continent in the sixteenth century and then inspired ecclesiastical and civil politics in England, Scotland, and America. Moots goes beyond the usual categories of Calvinism or Puritanism to consider the larger movement of which both were a part. By integrating philosophy, theology, and history, Moots also invites investigation of broader political traditions such as natural law and natural right. Politics Reformed demonstrates how the application of political theology over three centuries has important lessons for our own dilemmas about church and state. It makes a provocative contribution to understanding foundational questions in an era of rising fundamentalism and emboldened secularism, inspiring readers to rethink the importance of religion in political theory and practice, and the role of the covenant tradition in particular."

Endorsements: "This remarkable overview of history and opinion regarding the political theory of the covenant will undoubtedly become a standard resource on the history of this topic." (Thomas S. Kidd, Baylor University)

"Politics Reformed provides a clear and readable study of the idea of covenant in the Anglo-American setting. A particular contribution is its analysis of the place of the natural law tradition in Reformed political theology – a tradition missed by many even within Reformed circles." (Jeffry H. Morrison, Regent University)

Glenn A. Moots is Associate Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Northwood University, Michigan campus.

Political theology articles, fourth installment

A fourth installment of recent articles on political theology:

Richard Shorten (University of Birmingham), "Political Theology, Political Religion and Secularisation", Political Studies Review, 8 (2), May 2010: pp. 180-91.

Excerpt: "Recent work on the connection between religion and politics has often aligned itself with one of two intellectual traditions. On the one hand there is an expanding body of thought on the problem of the 'theological-political'. On the other, various discourses of 'political religion' amount to a different angle of approach to similar issues. The exact relation between the two orientations has seldom been spelled out. Nevertheless, it is intriguing for a number of reasons. The disjunction between the two is, in the foremost sense, disciplinary in character. The remit of the first is typically that of political philosophy, while the second body of work is largely historiographical. More prosaically, the two traditions are also readily identifiable with the 'big names' with whom they are invariably associated; Leo Strauss might just as well be a shorthand for political theology, and Eric Voegelin (albeit less well known) occupies a similar place in the tradition of political religion theory. To begin to establish that relation is therefore the primary intention of this short review article. The appearance, over the past few years, of a substantial set of monographs would seem an appropriate occasion on which to do so."

Cosmin Sebastian Cercel (University of Bucharest), "European Legal Integration as Phantasmagoria: On Jus Commune and Political Theology", Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 18 (2), June 2010: pp. 241-52.

Abstract: "This paper tries to explore the place of phantasmatic structures in the production of discourses on the past and the instrumentalization of historiography in the framework of the construction of a European identity. During the last decades, in strong connection with European institutional framing, a heterogeneous discourse tries to impose by means of symbolic violence and authoritative arguments its own truth about Europe's 'Common Legal Past' in order to legitimize European politics in the field of legal integration. In doing so, it conjures both a shared legal tradition and a paradigm for understanding the status of the legal, the jus commune, a kind of Roman Law, a patchwork of Canon Law and scholar interpretation techniques, that emerged in the twelfth century and might have been at work throughout Europe as late as the beginning of nineteenth century. What this discourse also brings to the fore is the idea of a common legal culture that has been largely informed by the religious milieu where most of modern legal concepts have been forged. From this point of view this arguments reveal themselves as variations on Carl Schmitt's problematic stand of a political theology. This paper tries to unravel the internal tensions that undermine the discourse and questions its relation to historical truth and the phantasmatic dimension of meaning construction in historical enterprise. On the other hand, it tries to give an account by means of genealogy of the uncanny relation between this contemporary emergence of the jus commune and other legal ontologies of European modernity that presuppose a strong relation between the legal and the religious. In respect to this, I try to sketch the image of the contemporary discourse on the European 'Common Legal Past' as a discursive strategy that hasn't dealt with its own idiosyncrasies and proffers a doubtful legal ontology with dubious intellectual links that places it in an history of exclusionist and essentialist conservative thought."

Pamela Slotte (University of Helsinki), "Political Theology within International Law and Protestant Theology: Some Comparative Remarks", Studia Theologica: Nordic Journal of Theology, 64 (1), June 2010: pp. 22-58.

Abstract: "An upsurge of efforts to understand history, society and law through their Christian roots has been witnessed in recent years. Some of these attempts are explicitly referred to as political theology, and some are not. However, they do share the feature of seeking to explicate social phenomena by tracing their theological and political roots. This article reflects on this current trend. The primary focus is international legal discourse. The article asks questions about the theological in political theology found in this discourse by presenting thoughts about political theology as found in writings of the Protestant feminist theologian Dorothee Sölle."

Vendulka Kubálková (University of Miami), "A 'Turn to Religion' in IR?", Perspectives: Review of International Affairs, 17 (2), 2009: pp. 13-42.

Abstract: "The Anglo-American discipline of International Relations defends its main principles and resists with an almost religious fervor any change to them, although the explanation of world affairs has been eluding it since its inception. The article attempts to draw up possibly the first historiography of the IR scholarship about religion in world affairs since the 90s, showing the heightened interest in the subject from most other social sciences and humanities. The article proposes the use of the term 'International Political Theology' to bridge the multiple literatures as well as to underscore the theological commitment of the IR discipline to its basic creeds and dogmas."

Mika Luoma-aho (University of Lapland), "International Relations and the Secularisation of Theological Concepts: A Symbolic Reading", Perspectives: Review of International Affairs, 17 (2), 2009: pp. 71-92.

Abstract: "This article takes seriously Carl Schmitt's argument that secular political concepts share structural identity with certain concepts in Christian theology and exposes its implications for contemporary International Relations. The key for understanding Schmitt's argument is in its orporeal [sic] social imaginary. What connects the theological structures of Christianity with those of the contemporary social order is the corpus mysticum: the image of an embodied polis. The origin of the image is in scripture and it has been a subject of much theological speculation in the Christian tradition. The same image has a secular incarnation in the institution of the state, wchich [sic] is, of course, an omnipresent element in contemporary IR as well as in the everyday discourse of international relations. The article concludes with a thought on the role of political theology in the study of IR."

John P. McCormick (University of Chicago), "From Roman Catholicism to Mechanized Oppression: On Political-Theological Disjunctures in Schmitt's Weimar Thought", Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 13 (2-3), June 2010: pp. 391-8.

Abstract: "This essay uses Carl Schmitt's often overlooked Roman Catholicism and political form to highlight generally neglected changes in Schmitt's thinking as it develops from the early to the late 1920s and then to the mid-1930s. In particular, the essay notes significant alterations in Schmitt's attitudes to the Roman Catholic Church, the concept of 'humanity', liberalism, the Jews and Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan state."

Samuel J. Kuruvilla (University of Exeter), "Theologies of Liberation in Latin America and Palestine-Israel in Comparative Perspective: Contextual Differences and Practical Similarities", Holy Land Studies, 9 (1), May 2010: pp. 51-69.

Abstract: "This article concerns the development of a theology of Christian liberation and contextual polity from its early origins in Latin America to one of its present manifestations as part of the Palestinian people's struggle for justice and freedom from the state of Israel. This article will be primarily dedicated to a historical and political analysis of the theological context, which includes three different strands. First, there was the development of theologies of liberation, as they are made manifest in Latin America and elsewhere. Next, there was the theology of other Palestinian Christians, and particularly that of the Al-Liqa group that contributed to the development of a contextual Palestinian theology of liberation within the 'occupied' context that is Palestine today. And finally there was the case of Palestinian Protestant Christian theologians such as the Rev. Dr Naim Ateek and the Rev. Dr Mitri Raheb who have raised definitional issues regarding liberation theology and Palestinian contextual Christianity."

Yaniv Belhassen (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev), "Fundamentalist Christian Pilgrimages as a Political and Cultural Force", Journal of Heritage Tourism, 4 (2), May 2009: pp. 131-44.

Abstract: "Based on fieldwork on a Midwestern American grassroots organization that conducts evangelical tours to Israel, this paper seeks to enrich analysis of the pilgrimage experience by suggesting a more contextualized approach to its study. To illustrate the implementation of the contextualized perspective, three thematic examples from the fieldwork are presented: men's emotional expression; religious deeds and their political meanings; and a case on the theo-political symbolism embedded in evangelical pilgrimage itineraries. It is argued that understanding not only the theological but also the historical, socio-cultural and political contexts in which evangelical tours operate can illuminate the way individual pilgrims construe meaning during their travel experiences. The paper concludes by suggesting that each of the examined examples illustrates the role of the pilgrimage as a cohesive force in the evangelical sub-culture."

Frederick Guyette (Erskine College and Theological Seminary), "Jonathan Edwards, The Ethics of Virtue and Public Theology", International Journal of Public Theology, 4 (2), 2010: pp. 158-74.

Abstract: "In The Nature of True Virtue, Jonathan Edwards does not deny that common morality is important; benevolence, beauty, conscience, justice, love for family and country are all threads in the fabric of a common morality. Without love for God as their chief end, however, the 'virtues' of common morality do not rise to the level of true virtue. This incommensurability can be problematic for Christian ethics in the public square. Edwards understood his project within the horizon of a commonwealth founded on Christian faith, but modern liberal democracies envision a different relationship between religious discourse and public life. In these contexts, so different from Edwards' setting, pluralism and tolerance are among the keys to a peaceful pursuit of the common good. With these differences in view, then, I explore what contribution Edwards' work on virtue might make to the practice of public theology in the areas of environmental ethics, bioethics and immigration policy."

Kirsteen Kim (Leeds Trinity University College), "Christianity's Role in the Modernization and Revitalization of Korean Society in the
Twentieth-Century", International Journal of Public Theology, 4 (2), 2010: pp. 212-36.

Abstract: "The development of South Korea and its growth to become the world's eleventh largest economy has been accompanied by the introduction of Christianity and its increase to become the major religious group, to which nearly thirty per cent of the population are affiliated. This article probes the connection between these two spectacular examples of development; economic and religious. By highlighting moments or episodes of Christian contribution to aspects of development in Korean history and linking these to relevant aspects of Korean Christian theology, there is shown to be a constructive, although not always intentional, link between Korean Christianity and national development. The nature of the Christian contribution is seen not primarily in terms of the work ethic it engenders (as argued by Max Weber in the case of European capitalism) but mainly in the realm of aspirations (visions, hope) of a new society and motivation (inspiration, empowerment) to put them into effect. In other words, it was the public theology of Christianity that played a highly significant role in the modernization and revitalization of Korean society in the twentieth century."

Max L. Stackhouse (Princeton Theological Seminary), "Public Theology and Democracy's Future", The Review of Faith & International Affairs, 7 (2), summer 2009: pp. 49-54.

Abstract: "Enduring civilizations have had a religious, moral architecture to guide leaders and evoke sacrificial commitments. The Judeo-Christian tradition offers two biblicalthemes [sic] that undergird the 'principled pluralism' that presses society toward democracy: the recognition of sin and the possibility of covenant. A serious public theology will engage the great world religions to find comparable concepts and prospects for an emerging global civil society. A viable democracy depends on a division of powers not only within the government, but among the institutions outside state control in a viable civil society. And civil society is strongest where multiple religious institutions are well developed."

Lisa O'Connell (University of Queensland), "The Theo-political Origins of the English Marriage Plot", Novel: A Forum on Fiction, 43 (1), spring 2010: pp. 31-7.

Abstract: "My paper re-historicizes the eighteenth-century marriage plot by shifting attention away from both the history of literary genres and the modes of social history that have generally informed accounts of the rise of the novel. Drawing instead on recent historiography of the period's religious-political currents, I argue that the novel's marriage plot emerged as both a cultural agent of the Erastian state and an expression of a highly labile, conservative, patriot opposition. It did so, therefore, as an English marriage plot which placed Anglican ritual and relations between vicars and squires at the heart of an imagined English nation. By returning a key tradition of the novel to its theo-political origins, and by offering an account of how marriage itself gained and retained intense topicality across the long eighteenth century in struggles between church and state, I show how the novel's new marriage plot worked to place prose fiction at the center of the literary field and, by that move, radically to augment literature's social resonance."

Leora Batnitzky (Princeton), "Leo Strauss and the Theologico-Political Predicament", in "The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss", ed. Steven B. Smith (Cambridge University Press, May 2009): pp. 41-62.

www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521703994

Excerpt: "This essay considers what Strauss meant by 'theologico-political predicament,' suggesting that there are at least two senses in which he employs the term, the first diagnostic, the second reconstructive. In its diagnostic sense, 'theologico-political predicament' refers to the ultimate results of the early modern attempt to separate theology from politics. However, Strauss in no way favors a return to theocracy or, like his contemporary Carl Schmitt, a return toward political theology. Strauss attempts to recover classical political philosophy, not to return to the political structures of the past, but to reconsider ways in which premodern thinkers thought it necessary to grapple and live with the tensions, if not contradictions, that by definition arise from human society. It is in this sense that Strauss's use of the theologico-political problem is reconstructive. [...] The conclusion considers the contemporary implications of Strauss's analyses."

Adam Kotsko (Kalamazoo College), "Dismantling the Theo-Political Machine: On Agamben's Messianic Nihilism", in "After the Postsecular and the Postmodern", eds. Anthony Paul Smith and Daniel Whistler (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, May 2010): pp. 209-224.

www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/After-the-Postsecular-and-the-Postmodern--New-Essays-in-Continental-Philosophy-of-Religion1-4438-1987-5.htm

Excerpt: "In both cases [Jacques Derrida and Slavoj Žižek's], the impetus behind the turn to religion comes in large parts from within their own intellectual projects [...] but the end goal of their engagement with theology remains the same: to find a way out of religion, recognizing that 'the only way out is through.' This essay is in part an attempt to demonstrate that a similar pattern is at work in the philosophy of Giorgio Agamben. [...] In retrospect, [...] one can see that Agamben had all along been shifting fluently between the religious and the political, a procedure he rarely thematises because the example of Walter Benjamin, perhaps his most significant intellectual influence, makes it seem like the obvious route to take. A significant portion of this essay will be taken up with a rereading of the Homo Sacer project with special attention to this continual slippage between the religious and the political. Yet for my purposes, Agamben's account of the theologico-political structure of the West is less important than the means he proposes for escaping or suspending that structure, a means that I will characterize as 'messianic nihilism.' Once I have established the basic outlines of Agamben's diagnosis of what ails Western culture and his proposed way out, I will turn from the exegetical to the constructive task, considering Agamben as one of the most fruitful interlocutors among the representatives of the 'theological turn' for interrogating the relationship between theology and philosophy."

CFP: Between Rawls and Religion: Liberalism in a Postsecular World

International conference "Between Rawls and Religion: Liberalism in a Postsecular World" of the International Research Network on Religion and Democracy (IRNRD), LUISS Guido Carli University, and John Cabot University, Rome, Italy, 16-18 December 2010

Call for papers

The conference will bring together scholars in philosophy, sociology, political theory, legal theory, religious studies, and theology to discuss the problematic relationship between religion and politics in contemporary public life. It will focus particularly on John Rawls' influential treatment of liberalism in pluralist societies and on the challenges posed to such a treatment by the re-emergence of religions in public life and the development of what some have called a postsecular world.

The conference will thus consider such topics as: Religion in Rawls; Political liberalism in a postsecular world; Religious doctrines and the idea of public reason; Religions and overlapping consensus; Liberalism and political theology; The philosophical and political foundations of postsecular pluralism; Redefining the relations and boundaries between religion and public life; Accommodating religious identities in liberal societies

Speakers include: Alessandro Ferrara (University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Andrew March (Yale, tbc); David Rasmussen (Boston College); Johannes van der Ven (Radboud University); Maeve Cooke (University College Dublin); Paul Weithman (University of Notre Dame); Peter Jonkers (Tilburg University); Samuele Sangalli (Gregoriana); Sebastiano Maffettone (LUISS Guido Carli University); Stephen Macedo (Princeton); Tariq Modood (University of Bristol, tbc); Theo de Wit (Tilburg University)

Scholars and graduate students wishing to present papers on these or related topics are invited to submit abstracts to the organizing committee. A paper suitable for presentation in 20 minutes and a 500-word abstract, both prepared for blind review, should be sent to: infophd@luiss.it

Deadline: 1 October 2010

Notice of acceptance will be provided by 15 October 2010. Selected papers will be considered for publication.

Registration fee (includes conference dinner, lunches, and refreshments): Faculty €100, Students €50.

JOB: Director Mission and Justice

Anglicare Canberra and Goulburn, Australia, is seeking to appoint a mature Christian leader as the Director Mission and Justice. They are seeking a strongly committed person who is experienced in mission within disadvantaged communities and has the capacity to undertake public theology.

This role forms part of the Anglicare Executive and reports to the Chief Executive Officer with particular responsibility for: Shaping and contextualizing the mission and work of Anglicare; Theological reflection, research and teaching; Coordinating chaplaincy services; Engaging with parishes and supporting the development of fresh expressions of the Anglican Church.

A theological degree appropriate for license as a priest or deacon in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn is required.

To obtain a position description, please contact Tina Mills: tina.mills@anglicarecg.org.au

To apply, forward a comprehensive resume and covering letter to Peter Sandeman (Chief Executive): peter.sandeman@anglicarecg.org.au

Deadline: 12 July 2010

CFP: The Future of Continental Philosophy of Religion

Postmodernism, Culture and Religion 4 (biennial conference series) "The Future of Continental Philosophy of Religion", Syracuse University, New York State, USA, 7-9 April 2011

http://pcr.syr.edu/

Call for papers

Description: "Paper submissions are invited on the topic 'The Future of Continental Philosophy of Religion,' its past and present, its history and its prospects, in the widest possible terms, addressing the whole range of it simplications – politics, feminism, constructive theology, philosophy, history, literature, interfaith dialogue, and the hermeneutics of sacred texts. In the past, these conferences, which have provided a forum for the most influential philosophers, theologians, and cultural theorists to interact, have consisted solely of several keynote speakers. This conference will be different. It will feature three plenary speakers and offer multiple concurrent sessions devoted to papers submitted on a diversity of issues relating to the primary theme. This call for papers is deliberately open, befitting the conference's animating concern with the future.

"Papers are invited that address questions like (but not limited to) the following. What now, or what comes next – specifically, after the death, if not of God, at least of the generation consisting of Derrida, Deleuze, Foucault, Levinas, etc.? This question concerns not only the future after those significant theorists, but also the future after-life of these eminent minds who have left such a deep impact on Continental philosophy of religion. What is the future of Kant and German Idealism, of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche in Continental philosophy of religion? What remains for the future of phenomenology? Of the 'theological turn' in the phenomenology of Jean-Luc Marion and others? Of Gadamer, Ricoeur and philosophical hermeneutics? Of apophatic or mystical theology? What is the future of feminism and Continental philosophy of religion? What are the status and future of the new trinity of Agamben, Badiou and Zizek? What relevance do the political interpretations of Antonio Negri, Michael Hardt, and the more recent Continental philosophers such as François Laruelle and Catherine Malabou have to philosophy of religion and political theology?

"What about the future of sovereignty, of money and capitalism, as in the work of Philip Goodchild? What is the future of the movements of Radical Orthodoxy and of radical death of God theology, whether in their original or contemporary manifestations? What about the new sciences of information and complexity in thinkers like Mark C. Taylor and Michel Serres? What about Continental philosophy of religion and our 'companion species' in Donna Haraway? What about 'Post-Humanism'? What is the future of Continental [p]hilosophy of religion and Judaism? And Islam? Or world religions generally? What is the relationship between postmodernism, religion and postcolonialism? What role can Continental philosophy play in the future of religion in the USA? In the professional study of religion in the USA? How does Continental philosophical theology relate to the ethnological and empirical-scientific study of religion? How does Continental philosophy of religion differ from traditional philosophy of religion? Or from analytic philosophy of religion? What is continental philosophy of religion anyway?"

Plenary Speakers: John D. Caputo (Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Humanities, Syracuse University); Philip Goodchild (Professor of Religion and Philosophy, University of Nottingham); Catherine Malabou (Professor of Philosophy, Paris West University Nanterre La Défense)

Instructions: Submit electronic copies of completed papers (up to 3000 words). Abstracts cannot be considered. Papers will be subject to a double blind review by a selection committee. Include your name, paper title, and contact information on a separate page. Include the paper title but not your name on a header or footer on each numbered page of the paper itself. The papers must be previously unpublished in any format. The conference reserves the right of first refusal of the submitted paper for inclusion in a projected volume to be based upon the conference.

Deadline: 15 December 2010

Acceptances will be made by 15 February 2011.

Contact for further information and paper submissions: pcrconf@syr.edu

Coordinator: John D. Caputo

CONF: American Political Science Association annual meeting 2010

106th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), Washington, DC, USA, 2-5 September 2010

http://apsanet.org/content_65547.cfm?navID=193

The programme of this year's APSA meeting features a panel on "God and Political Representation: Is a Democratic Political Theology Possible?", organized by APSA's "Foundations of Political Theory" and "Religion and Politics" sections (2 September, 2.00 pm).

Speakers: James R. Martel (San Francisco State University), "Benjamin and Derrida on the Theology of Immanence"; Miguel E. Vatter (Universidad Diego Portales), "Political Theology without Sovereignty: Some 20th Century Examples (Voegelin, Maritain, Badiou)"; Kathleen Roberts Skerrett (Grinnell College), "Sovereign Power and Theological Themes of Plenitude and Plurality"; Eric Gregory (Princeton), "Augustine, Augustinianism, and Democracy"

Also: The panel "Crossing Boundaries: Religious and Political Voices", organized by the "Religion and Politics" section, includes a paper by Melissa Marie Matthes (Yale Divinity School), "Mourning JFK and the Hard Times of 1963: The Political Theology of the Sermons of the Crisis" (2 September, 8.00 am), and "Poster Session 9: Related Fields" includes a poster by Jenna Silber Storey (University of Chicago), "Schmitt's Nationalism and its Relation to his Political Theology" (4 September, 2.00 pm).

Further information and the full programme are to be found on APSA's website.

CONF: Political Theology as the Problem

International conference "Political Theology as the Problem" of the Institute of Political Science and International Relations of the Jagiellonian University and the Institute of Political Science of the Jesuit University of Philosophy and Education "Ignatianum", at the Ignatianum, ul. Kopernika 26, Krakow, Poland, 16-17 September 2010

www.ignatianum.edu.pl/ptheology/

Description: "Political theology is the problem that a modern science of politics should be apt to confront. For that kind of theology means primarily an intellectual as well as moral (with 'moral' coming first) attitude towards the very foundation of a political community that ought to be connected with divine command rather than purely human invention. The political theologian deals with the issues of order, authority, subordination to the Law of God or His will. Indeed, what is at stake is the most basic question of the best way of life men can lead; the life that now appears to be lived according to the command from above. And what is the relation between such a command and the workings of unassisted human reason? Is the possibility of political theology in its current guise not deeply pervaded by a growing distrust of philosophy and science? Is it not a kind of mere abreaction against the world of disenchantment and secularization provided by modern political philosophy? Yet the attitude characteristic of a political theologian may also bear witness to the fact that modern philosophy or science has never truly resolved the tension between what is rational and what is political, between the reason and passion of a citizen. Hence some tradition that preceded anti-traditional modernity must be seriously taken into consideration.

"The problem of political theology refers to a large number of highly differentiated domains of theoretical research. It also has its counterpart on the side of political practice insofar as a continual struggle between various political-theological attitudes can be found within each of the societies of the West. We can perceive, too, some menacing political-theological pressure born in societies that evidently do not share the prevalent Western position, i.e. a conviction that the core of religious matters must be situated in the private sphere. To have our present situation plausibly explained a broad undertaking in the whole field of the history of ideas must be launched. The present conference marks an attempt towards such an undertaking. We want to discuss the problem of political theology as well as some of its sources rooted in ancient and medieval traditions of thought. Thus the problem of political theology may be connected with the problem of modern political atheism in light of some obvious limitations of the modern solution regarding the relations between Reason and Revelation we now face. Last but not least, this is an opportunity to confront some prevalent views on political-theological issues as they appear in the different contexts of the different countries the participants come from."

Speakers include: Victoria Kahn (Berkeley), "Political Theology and Modern Culture: Strauss, Schmitt, Spinoza, and Arendt"; Daniel Tanguay (University of Ottawa), "Democracy as Negative Political Theology: Marcel Gauchet's Theory of Democracy"; David Janssens (Tilburg University), "Violent Grace: The Theologico-Political Problem in Ancient Poetry and Philosophy"; Herfried Münkler (Humboldt University of Berlin), "Politische Mythen als eine Form der politischen Religion" ("Political Myths as a Form of Political Religion"; organizers' translation); Ryszard Legutko (Jagiellonian University), "Problem ciągłości kulturowej narodu w kontekście teologiczno-politycznym" ("Cultural Continuity of a Nation as a Theologico-Political Problem"; organizers' translation); Leora Batnitzky (Princeton), "Law and Belief: Judaism, Christianity, and the Theologico-Political Predicament of Modernity"; Till Kinzel (Braunschweig University of Technology), "Political Theology, Hermeneutics and Bible Criticism: English Thinkers on Reason and Revelation between 'libertas philosophandi' and 'conservatio tranquillitatis' in the 17th and 18th Century"; Emmanuel Patard (University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne), "The Theologico-Political Problem and the Strauss-Voegelin Debate"; Marek A. Cichocki (University of Warsaw), "Carl Schmitt's Political Theology"; John McCormick (University of Chicago), "Post-Enlightenment Sources of Political Authority: Biblical Atheism, Political Theology, and the Schmitt-Strauss Exchange"; Arkadiusz Górnisiewicz (Jagiellonian University), "The Problem of the Closure of any Political Theology: Remarks on the Controversy between Erik Peterson, Carl Schmitt, and Hans Blumenberg"

The registration section of the website does not yet provide any information.

People interested in participating may therefore want to contact: tpolityczna@ignatianum.edu.pl

Coordinators: Paweł Armada, Krzysztof Matuszek (both Ignatianum), Mateusz Filary, Arkadiusz Górnisiewicz (both Jagiellonian University)

Journal "Teologia Polityczna" on Poland's "Lost Identity" (in Polish)

The Polish journal "Teologia Polityczna" ("Political Theology") has been published five times since 2003. The fifth issue (2009/2010) is titled "Złoty róg, czyli nieodzyskana podmiotowość" ("Lost Identity"; publisher's translation).

Those able to read Polish can find a table of contents here:

http://teologiapolityczna.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=138&Itemid=94

Publisher's description: "What could be described as Poland's identity in modern times? And does Poland have the resources and means to maintain and further develop that identity? Such issues are tackled in detail in the fifth issue of Political Theology, 'Lost identity'. It is not just identity that is taken into account here, but also a certain notion of independence. Can Poland still follow its own path of modernisation and development, maybe one with a greater role of the church, or does it have mimic the increasingly secularized western nations if it wants prominence in the EU? In an article called 'It's Impossible to Xerox Modernity', Dariusz Karłowicz severely criticises a one-size-fits-all approach to political and social progress and modernisation. He argues that each country has its own culture and identity and needs to develop according to that rather than merely copy its seemingly more advanced neighbours. Furthermore, the issue also attempts to affirm and fully understand what it means to be Polish in today's times and what role Poland's unique identity (Solidarity, the role of the church, a newly developing democracy) means in today's cosmpolitan [sic], ever-globalising times. Finally, the advance of secularism in the modern world is looked at it in detail, and the U.S. and European approaches to the issue are compared and contrasted."

To order a copy, please contact: redakcja@teologiapolityczna.pl

Book: Contextual Theology and Revolutionary Transformation in Latin America

Just published: Angel D. Santiago-Vendrell, "Contextual Theology and Revolutionary Transformation in Latin America: The Missiology of M. Richard Shaull" (Pickwick Publications, June 2010):

http://wipfandstock.com/store/Contextual_Theology_and_Revolutionary_Transformation_in_Latin_America_The_Missiology_of_M_Richard_Shaull

Publisher's description: "U.S. audiences know Latin American liberation theologies largely through translations of Latin American Catholics from the 1970s and beyond. Most of the few known Protestant authors were students of Richard Shaull, whose critical thinking on social change, prophetic Christianity, and dialogue with Marxism and Christian use of Marxist analysis precedes the emergence of the formal schools of liberation theology by two decades. His own education at Princeton, and the education he provided in Brazil, charts the course of Protestant influences into this stream of theological reflection that became a global phenomenon in the latter decades of the twentieth century. Also, Shaull's career roughly parallels the emergence of the World Council of Churches and the engagement of the Catholic Church – in Latin America and around the world – after the Second Vatican Council. He himself was engaged, and became the flash point, in some of the major conferences, movements, and institutions of the 1960s and beyond.

"Santiago-Vendrell documents the entrance of the ecumenical movement in Brazil, among the most dramatic transformations in Catholic-Protestant relations around the globe, as well as Shaull's role in that development. Along the way he notes Shaull's prophetic and destabilizing role in the worldwide student movement in the 60s and 70s, charting decisions that mark the ecumenical movement. Shaull's contributions are important for an understanding of the ethical debates in the worldwide, ecumenical Protestant and Orthodox communities. Santiago-Vendrell examines primary, secondary, and historical documents that shine a light on Shaull's transformation into a contextual theologian of the poor. He offers a definitive view of this North American Protestant missionary who wrote extensively on Latin American liberation theology, the base Christian communities, and how conversion to solidarity with the poor offers transforming possibilities for the mainline churches' theological identity and practical faith."

Endorsements: "Long before there was such a thing as liberation theology, the 'revolutionary theology' of Presbyterian missionary Richard Shaull was heralding a new and more just world born out of solidarity with the poor and the oppressed. This biography of Shaull fills a gap in understanding a complex man who sought to hold the church accountable while inspiring Christians to a more radical and biblical form of social engagement. A wonderful adventure in contextual theology." (Bryan Stone, Boston University)

"We can be grateful to Dr. Santiago-Vendrell for making available to us a story that has required research in both Spanish language and American resources not widely available to the U.S. reading public. Probably nothing has done more to change perspectives on U.S. foreign policy and journalistic knowledge about the realities of Latin American politics and the plight of its peoples than the presence of U.S. missionaries during the crucial mid-decades of the twentieth century. This theological biography will be as interesting to those concerned about interAmerican politics and economic policy as it will be to theologians and church historians." (Jeffrey Gros, Memphis Theological Seminary)

Angel D. Santiago-Vendrell is Assistant Professor of Mission at Memphis Theological Seminary.

Journal "Constellations" on "Political Theologies"

The June 2010 issue of "Constellations: An International Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory" (17 [2]) features five articles on the theme "Political Theologies":

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118514711/home

Contents:

Bernard Flynn (State University of New York), "Political Theology and Its Vicissitudes" (pp. 185-96).

Excerpt: "In this article, I argue that the Judeo-Christian conception of 'the creation of the world from nothing' contains within itself the possibilities for the political transformation of a theological concept. It does this in two respects: on the one hand, the conception of divine providence appears in secular thought in the guise of philosophy of history. I follow Karl Löwith's path, in Meaning in History, of unmasking this secular theory as theology. On the other hand, the theological notion of creation ex nihilo becomes the political concept of the Event. In order to show the centrality of the notion of the Event in recent political thought, I investigate certain aspects of the thought of both Carl Schmitt and Walter Benjamin. Then I conclude by invoking the thought of Claude Lefort who, while practicing political philosophy, is sensitive to the role of theological concepts in the constitution of the political. For the thinkers associated with political theology, this disjunctive opposition between political theology and political philosophy comes to be blurred. It is possible that while practicing political philosophy, in their own self-representation, they are, in fact, in the grips of political theology, notwithstanding even a militant atheism. My claim is that beneath the surface of a secular theory, a theological problematic continues to operate. This claim is stronger than the claim that there are structural similarities between the two; rather it is that unbeknownst to themselves these secular theorists are pursuing a theological enterprise by 'other means.'"

Ruth Marshall (University of Toronto), "The Sovereignty of Miracles: Pentecostal Political Theology in Nigeria" (pp. 197-223).

Excerpt: "This paper will examine aspects of Pentecostalism's global 'revolutionary' project as they are being played out in the post-colonial world today in an effort to clarify elements of a Nigerian Born-Again political theology beyond the epithets and the long-standing antimonies and categories of analysis that have marked our understanding of the relationship between the religious and the political."

Nicolas Guilhot (CNRS, France, and New York University), "American Katechon: When Political Theology Became International Relations Theory" (pp. 224-53).

Excerpt: "While nobody would deny that international relations theory is a secular social science, especially in its 'realist' guise, it is interesting to note that a number of commentators and historians of the discipline often turn to religious metaphors in order to characterize some of its core features or talk about its main thinkers. Such eschatological or theological references run indeed throughout the literature, like a faint but always present watermark. [...] These references are too pervasive, too ubiquitous to be treated as mere coincidences. They point at a theological substratum that once provided an explicit background against which a number of central concepts of IR theory resonated, when the discussion of international affairs still involved not only scholars but also public intellectuals, diplomats, historians, political theorists and, last but not least, theologians, many of whom considered themselves 'Christian realists.' Obviously, the figure of Reinhold Niebuhr loomed large over these discussions. [...] But such considerations pervaded the early search for a 'theory' and were common to a group of individuals who actively discussed the shape of the future discipline. [...] Yet, as the discussion of international politics became an academic specialty enclosed in political science departments, this background was progressively bracketed out."

Carlo Invernizzi Accetti (Columbia University), "Can Democracy Emancipate Itself From Political Theology? Habermas and Lefort on the Permanence of the Theologico-Political" (pp. 254-70).

Excerpt: "In the following paper, I address the relation between political theology and the modern democratic form. To do so, I compare the writings of two authors who have more solid democratic credentials than Carl Schmitt: Jürgen Habermas and Claude Lefort. I argue that both of these authors attempt to put forward a conception of modern democracy that emancipates itself from the dimension of political theology, but that they achieve this goal to different extents. Habermas develops a conception of democracy articulated around the notion of 'communicative rationality' which ultimately ends up reintroducing an element of political theology through the very means that were sought to overcome it. Lefort, on the other hand, delineates a conception of democracy articulated around the notion of an 'empty place of power' which proves more sophisticated in extricating itself from the dimension of political theology because it recognizes the persistence of an irreducible locus of transcendence within the structure of the political itself, but construes it in such a way as to pervert its theologico-political character. From a political point of view, this contrast is instructive because it gives an indication as to what strategies might be more effective for advancing a secularist response to the recent resurgence of attempts to colonize the political with the theological."

Ada S. Jaarsma (Sonoma State University), "Habermas' Kierkegaard and the Nature of the Secular" (pp. 271-92).

Excerpt: "In what follows, I describe Habermas' normative program for the successful and mutually beneficial co-existence of the religious and the non-religious, looking especially at his reliance upon a particular reading of Kierkegaard. [...] As I argue below, the specific ways in which Habermas employs Kierkegaard's thought demonstrates what Habermas himself advocates for others: an appreciative respect for religious insights and simultaneous self-reflection on the limitations of both secular and philosophical thinking."

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.

Book: Chicano Liberation Theology: The Writings and Documents of Richard Cruz and Católicos por la Raza

Mario T. García is the editor of "Chicano Liberation Theology: The Writings and Documents of Richard Cruz and Católicos por la Raza" (Kendall Hunt Publishing, May 2009).

Publisher's description: "[García's book] focuses on the role of religion in the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. This was the most widespread and significant civil rights, identity, and empowerment movement by Mexican Americans in the United States. This book highlights the most important faith-inspired urban movement to bring about social change inspired by Catholic social teachings. Chapter topics include: The Chicano Movement and the Catholic Church; The Origins of Católicos Por La Raza; Católicos in Action; Oral Histories; Richard Cruz: People's Attorney; Reflections by Richard Cruz. This is an edited collection of the writings and documents of Richard Cruz and Católicos Por La Raza, along with additional supporting material and interviews with former Católicos members."

www.kendallhunt.com/index.cfm?PID=219&AUT=&ISB=&DIS=375&GRA=0&DES=&MTC=exact&BOOL=AND&KEY=&PPS=25&SRT=Author&CMD=detail&SRH=&PRD=23010

Mario T. García is Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies in the Department of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

CFP: Religion in International Relations

52nd Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA), Montréal, Canada, 16-19 March 2011

Call for papers for two panels dealing with religion in international relations. (May be of interest to political theology scholars in IR.)

In IR today, religion is a little understood and under-researched area that impacts both the political and international spheres. From development to security, economics and war, terrorism and institutional consciousness, religion is present via identity, language, narratives, or motivations. These panels seek to open a more comprehensive discussion on the exchange between religion and international relations by encouraging theoretical and case-study dialogue as a means of bringing issues of religion out of the shadows of research and the imaginations of academics. In order to critically analyze the nexus of religion and international relations, researchers need to debate the issue of religion rather than constitute it as an anomalous periphery subject.

Theoretical Panel: At this point, religion in IR is debated amongst secularists who exist on the periphery of international studies. This panel seeks to open a discussion on how to best approach religion in its many forms and roles that captures the intensity and relevancy of this field of research. Theoretical frameworks need to be explored so as to intensify a much needed spotlight on the depth of influence religion has in constructing and affecting relations between states. In order to understand international relations, we must understand the complex social forces that constitute states and motivate their decisions, this includes religious forces. Therefore, this panel is seeking papers that can contribute to a discussion on theoretical frameworks we as researchers can use to study religion in international relations.

Innovative Panel: The ISA has developed a new panel program that seeks to innovate conference experience. This panel is proposing a media-oriented approach that will lead to discussion and debate on the issue of religious symbolism in IR. For this, the media will focus on religious iconography from various theo-political movements, religious organizations/institutions, etc. that have been used to motivate or incite radical religious movements from acts of terrorism to peace initiatives. Since this is a relatively new method of panel organization, input from interested contributors is welcome.

Please e-mail proposals to Sandy M. Livingston (University of Aberdeen): slivingston@abdn.ac.uk

Deadlines: Innovative Panel: 14 May 2010; Theoretical Panel: 25 May 2010

Book: Theological Interpretation of Culture in Post-Communist Context

Just published: Ivana Noble, "Theological Interpretation of Culture in Post-Communist Context: Central and East European Search for Roots" (Ashgate, April 2010):

http://ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&title_id=9936&edition_id=12659

Publisher's description: "Twenty years after the fall of Communism in Central and East Europe is an ocassion [sic] to reevaluate the cultural and theological contribution from that region to the secularization-post-secularization debate. Czech theologian Ivana Noble develops a Trinitarian theology through a close dialogue with literature, music and film, which formed not only alternatives to totalitarian ideologies, but also followed the loss and reappeareance [sic] of belief in God. Noble explains that, by listening to the artists, the churches and theologians can deal with questions about the nature of the world, memory and ultimate fulfilment in a more nuanced way. Then, as partakers in the search undertaken by their secular and post-secular contemporaries, theologians can penetrate a new depth of meaning, sending out shoots from the stump of Christian symbolism. Drawing on the rich cultures of Central and East Europe and both Western and Eastern theological traditions, this book presents a theological reading of contemporary culture which is important not just for post-Communist countries but for all who are engaged in the debate on the boundaries between theology, politics and arts."

Endorsement: "Noble offers us in the West an encounter with the Other that cannot but give much food for thought about religion in our own increasingly post-institutional religious situations. Original not only in content but also methodology, her text promises numerous insights for political theology, liturgical studies, theological aesthetics, indeed, for all seeking to construct theologies at once fundamental and practical in this postmodern age." (Bruce T. Morrill, SJ, Boston College)

Ivana Noble is Associate Professor of Ecumenical Theology at Charles University and a Senior Research Fellow at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague.

CONF: Morals and Fear: New Insights from Moral Psychology and Political Theology

Symposium "Moral und Angst: Neue Erkenntnisse aus der Moralpsychologie und der politischen Theologie" ("Morals and Fear: New Insights from Moral Psychology and Political Theology"; my translation) of the Collegium Helveticum of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich and the University of Zurich, Semper-Sternwarte (Semper-Observatory), Schmelzbergstrasse 25, Zurich, Switzerland, 21 May 2010, 9.30 am-5.45 pm

www.collegium.ethz.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/ch_events/100521_progr_angst_moral.pdf

Description: "We live in a time of mediatized moral outrage. There is talk of 'unfair trade', 'social injustice' and 'economic exploitation' – but most of all is there the permanent fear one could suddenly belong oneself to those affected and lose out. This mixture of real concern for the future wellbeing of humanity and the fear to be among the potential casualties of change indicates that our moral self is determined not least by our unconscious. The latter, on the other hand, is shaped by our biological constitution, our social and religious environment and our personal life style. During this symposium, philosophers, moral psychologists and theologians will be presenting insights from the areas of moral heuristics and political theology and discuss them in the context of the possibilities and restrictions of moral self-determination." (my translation)

The symposium includes a panel on "Moral und Religion: Erkenntnisse aus der politischen Theologie" ("Morals and Religion: Insights from Political Theology"; my translation), centring on fear of Islam and the historicity of the Qur'an, Israel as a political and theological place, and monotheism and political ethics in the Bible.

Most presentations will be given in German, those on moral psychology in English.

Seating capacity is limited. RSVP by 15 May 2010 to Philipp Aerni (ETH Zurich): aernip@ethz.ch

Followed by a reception.

CFP: Political Theology Agenda Symposium 2010

Please circulate widely!

CALL FOR PAPERS

Political Theology Agenda Symposium 2010

Organized by: Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society (SCIS)

Location: Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the University of Geneva, Château de Bossey, near Geneva, Switzerland

Date: 18-19 August 2010

The "Political Theology Agenda" (www.political-theology-agenda.blogspot.com) has been run by the Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society since January 2009. The blog is the premier resource on the net for the comparative study of political theology and political theologies across the boundaries of various traditions and academic disciplines.

The Political Theology Agenda Symposium 2010 will be the first event we organize in conjunction with the blog. It will build up though on two highly successful events on comparative political theology SCIS organized earlier. Namely, in September 2007, a section and symposium at the General Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research in Pisa, Italy, and, in July 2008, a stand-alone symposium at Sciences Po/the Institute for Political Studies (IEP) in Paris, France. Both events drew participants from the world over.

The Political Theology Agenda Symposium 2010 is set to be equally international and interdisciplinary in scope. We invite affiliated academics, independent scholars, and doctoral students and candidates from a wide range of disciplines, such as Theology, Religious Studies, Philosophy, Political Theory, Political Science, International Relations, Law, Literature, History, Jewish Studies, Education, Cultural Studies, Geography, and so on. Papers may not only cover any and all aspects of political theology, but also related concepts, such as liberation theology, public theology, black theology, the Christian Right, radical Orthodoxy, religious anarchism, minjung theology, Dalit theology, radical Islam, religious Zionism, political religion, civil religion, etc. Have a look at the blog to see what might be of interest and falls within our remit. Papers may be theoretical and/or empirical in nature. Although not a condition, we particularly encourage a comparative perspective. Work in progress is welcome too.

We expect that 15-20 participants will be attending the workshop-style Political Theology Agenda Symposium 2010. Over the course of two full days, each presenter will have 45-60 minutes (depending on the number of participants) to present his or her paper and discuss it with all others.

As with all SCIS events, no fees will be charged from participants, and no funding is available to cover participants' travel and accommodation expenses. We will be glad to issue letters of invitation on request to assist participants in securing funding from their usual sources. The 18th-century Château de Bossey, set in an outstanding natural environment overlooking Lake Geneva and the French Alps, offers comfortable accommodation at reasonable prices. Alternatively, participants may decide to stay in Geneva and commute to the symposium. Further information will be provided to confirmed participants. The symposium starts early on Wednesday and ends Thursday late in the afternoon.

Please send your proposal to: e.kofmel@sussexcentre.org

Extended deadline: 15 July 2010

Later submissions may still be accepted, but early submission is strongly advised and proposals may be accepted as they come in.

Cordially,

Erich Kofmel
Managing Director / Research Professor of Political Theory
Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society (SCIS)
www.sussexcentre.org
E-mail: e.kofmel@sussexcentre.org

Postal address:
Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society
1200 Geneva
Switzerland

SCIS is an international association under Swiss law.
Founded 2006 at the University of Sussex.

JOB: Public Theology Administrative Assistant (full-time, temporary)

The Evangelical Alliance, Whitefield House, 186 Kennington Park Road, London, SE11 4BT, England, is looking for a

Public Theology Administrative Assistant (full-time, temporary)

This role involves providing administrative and secretarial assistance to the Public Theology Team, responding to enquiries, arranging and facilitating meetings, assisting in the production and distribution of Public Theology publications, and providing support (including co-ordinating logistics) as the Alliance conducts a large-scale research project at festivals, conferences, and member churches this summer. Candidates would benefit from an interest in politics and/or theology. The successful candidate will have: proven administrative or secretarial skills; the ability to use initiative and take responsibility for tasks; excellent communication and relational skills; positive team-working attitude. All applicants must be committed to the aims and ethos of the Evangelical Alliance.

Salary: ca. £20,000 p.a., plus benefits

A detailed job description, person specification, terms and conditions, applicants guidance notes, etc. are to be found here:

www.eauk.org/vacancies

Please apply online or download an application form from the site and e-mail it to the Evangelical Alliance HR Department: hr@eauk.org

CVs will not be accepted.

Closing date: 14 May 2010

Interviews: 20 May 2010

Book: A Clash of Ideologies: Marxism, Liberation Theology, and Apocalypticism in New Testament Studies

Just published: Randall W. Reed, "A Clash of Ideologies: Marxism, Liberation Theology, and Apocalypticism in New Testament Studies"
(Pickwick Publications, April 2010):

http://wipfandstock.com/store/A_Clash_of_Ideologies_Marxism_Liberation_Theology_and_Apocalypticism_in_New_Testament_Studies/

Publisher's description: "Marxism is one of the revolutionary social-scientific theories that has come to have a prominent place in New Testament studies in the United States. It is often combined with liberation theology and applied to apocalyptic texts. This book argues that the basic presuppositions of these three ideological systems are ultimately at odds with one another. The study then traces the kinds of moves scholars in New Testament studies have made to overcome this problem."

Endorsements: "Reed has uncovered the unexamined assumption of biblical scholarship, namely that the Bible holds the answers to the social issues confronting us in the twenty-first century. He does this by exposing the faulty logics of several major hermeneutical traditions of New Testament scholarship that he calls 'ideologies.' This also serves as a brilliant announcement of an historic change in the reasons for the long-standing investment in biblical studies. The Bible can no longer serve as the theological foundation for ideological argumentation. It has now to be seen as the Christian myth with its own problematic social ideology." (Burton Mack, Claremont Graduate University)

"By highlighting the fundamental and irresolvable incompatibility between Marxist materialism and its distinctive view of religion, and any emancipatory projects rooted in religion – whether ancient apocalypticism or modern liberation theology – Reed's important, timely, and persuasive book establishes the continued and even enhanced salience of Marxist insights into and critiques of biblical texts. An outstanding indictment of the too-common tendency in our field to advocate radical social transformation while maintaining the transcendent authority of privileged biblical texts." (William Arnal, University of Regina)

Randall W. Reed is Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Appalachian State University.

Book: Through Us, With Us, In Us: Relational Theologies in the Twenty-First Century

Just published: "Through Us, With Us, In Us: Relational Theologies in the Twenty-First Century", edited by Elaine Bellchambers and Lisa Isherwood (SCM Press, April 2010):

www.scm-canterburypress.co.uk/bookdetails.asp?ISBN=9780334043669

Publisher's description: "Relational theologies, such as feminist theology, ecotheology and liberation theologies of various kinds, turn our traditional starting point for theology on its head. They ask what it is that we experience and where it is that we intuit God manifests and creates in and through our relation and lack of relation with ourselves, others and the cosmos. This book aims to explore the concept of the emerging divine within human and non-human relationality. It is relationship and the relationality that enable knowledge of the divine to emerge. The editors and contributors make the concept of relational theology more widely understood and stimulating theological debate in this area [sic]. The collection is an excellent teaching resource for courses in liberation theology, feminist theology, ecotheology and Christian doctrine at upper undergraduate and MA level. The book offers new and original contributions by well-known authors such as Carter Heyward, Catherine Keller, Mary Grey, Ursula King, Beverley Clack, Diarmuid O'Murchu and Mary Condren."

Elaine Bellchambers is Senior Lecturer in Primary Education at the University of Winchester.

Lisa Isherwood is Professor of Feminist Liberation Theologies at the University of Winchester.

Public lecture: "The Political": The Rational Meaning of a Questionable Inheritance of Political Theology

University College Dublin (UCD), Clinton Institute for American Studies/Global Ireland Institute, William Jefferson Clinton Auditorium, 15 June 2010, 6.00 pm

The German philosopher Jürgen Habermas will be giving a public lecture on "'The Political': The Rational Meaning of a Questionable Inheritance of Political Theology".

No abstract was provided by the organizers.

All are welcome, but early arrival is recommended.

On 16 June, Habermas will receive the UCD Ulysses Medal at a special ceremony. The medal is the highest honour that University College Dublin can bestow. It is awarded to individuals whose work has made an outstanding global contribution.

Book: Public Theology in an Age of World Christianity: God's Mission as Word-Event

Just published: Paul S. Chung, "Public Theology in an Age of World Christianity: God's Mission as Word-Event" (Palgrave Macmillan, April 2010):

http://us.macmillan.com/publictheologyinanageofworldchristianity

Publisher's description: "This book aims to rearticulate and reinterpret a Christian concept of God's mission and evangelization in light of the universal, irregular, and transversal horizon of God's narrative as it pertains to the realities of public sphere. Paul Chung maintains that mission serves the Word of God which is revealed in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit for all. It is salient to develop a theology of Trinitarian mission through the perspective of God's living 'word-event' in a hermeneutical, intercultural fashion. Here, a Trinitarian concept of missio Dei is deepened and refurbished in light of God as the Subject of speaking: through Israel, the church, and the face of innocent victims and religious outsiders. This perspective contextualizes and widens the mission of God's narrative and deepens its universality in light of the word event."

Paul S. Chung is Associate Professor of Mission and World Christianity at Luther Seminary.

Book: Encounter Between Eastern Orthodoxy and Radical Orthodoxy

The contributed volume, "Encounter Between Eastern Orthodoxy and Radical Orthodoxy: Transfiguring the World through the Word", was edited by Adrian Pabst and Christoph Schneider and published by Ashgate in March 2009:

www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&title_id=7659&edition_id=10241

Publisher's description: "This book presents the first debate between the contemporary movement Radical Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodox theologians. Leading international scholars offer new insights and reflections on a wide range of contemporary issues from a specifically theological and philosophical perspective. The ancient notion of divine Wisdom (Sophia) serves as a common point of reference in this encounter. Both Radical and Eastern Orthodoxy agree that the transfiguration of the world through the Word is at the very centre of the Christian faith. The book explores how this process of transformation can be envisaged with regard to epistemological, ontological, aesthetical, ecclesiological and political questions. Contributors to this volume include Rowan Williams, John Milbank, Antoine Arjakovsky, Michael Northcott, Nicholas Loudovikos, Andrew Louth and Catherine Pickstock."

Endorsements: "This excellent collection surprises at many turns. It offers not only a unique perspective onto a theological dialogue so far unheard, it also opens up new avenues in theological conversation for both participants – the Radically Orthodox and members of the Eastern Orthodox family. Radical Orthodoxy is pushed to articulate a theology of tradition and to locate its own theology of participation within the Patristic patrimony far more deeply than before; the Eastern Orthodox are pushed toward a re-engagment [sic] with Bulgakov and the theosophical tradition so attractive to the Radically Orthodox. There is much here for all interested in the future of serious theological dialogue." (Lewis Ayres, Emory University)

"This is a stimulating and fruitful exchange between Eastern Orthodoxy and Radical Orthodoxy by leading scholars of each that both draws upon tradition and opens horizons for the future. Addressing the problems of modernity from their different starting points, the collection offers profound material for reflecting upon our own situation. It deserves a wide readership and will amply repay serious engagement."
(John Behr, St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary)

Adrian Pabst is now a Lecturer in Politics at the University of Kent and a Research Fellow at the Luxembourg Institute for European and International Studies.

Christoph Schneider was at the time of publication a Research Assistant at the University of Bern, Switzerland.

CONF: Space & The Event

Interdisciplinary workshop "Space & The Event" of the Social and Cultural Geography Group in the Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2 Gower Street, London, 26 May 2010, 2.00-6.00 pm

Concepts of 'the event' have taken on an increasingly important role in recent continental political thought in the work of Badiou, Deleuze, Derrida, and Heidegger, amongst others. Although these concepts of 'the event' are multiple and resist consensus all have become central to debates on the nature of political transformations, the political importance of ontological questions, the relationship between order and sovereignty, and the renewed interest in political theology. Whether they have been articulated in relation to appropriation, becoming, rupture, or otherwise, these ideas have largely focused on explicitly temporal understandings of 'the event'. This workshop aims to discuss how 'the event' may be read spatially, and what possibilities this may open for re-thinking radical politics. What effect might an examination of 'the event' have on our understanding of the relationship between space and politics? Conversely, how could a consideration of spatial politics effect our assessment of the nature, scope, and relevance of 'the event'? What bearing does the relationship between space and 'the event' have on other crucial relationships such as between politics and the political, difference and universality, transcendence and immanence, and spatial boundaries and political subjectivities? It is hoped that this discussion may create openings for new understandings of political strategy and spatial practices and enriched conceptions of 'the event'.

The workshop brings together a select interdisciplinary group of academics and graduate students, drawn from across geography, political theory, philosophy, and international relations to consider the relevance of this approach to concepts of 'the event'. General discussion will open out from a series of short papers by speakers addressing the theme in relation to their own work and theoretical approaches: Mustafa Dikeç (Royal Holloway) will discuss Jacques Rancière, Alberto Toscano (Goldsmiths) will discuss Alain Badiou, and, provisionally, Marcus Doel (Swansea University) will discuss Deleuze and Badiou, with J.D. Dewsbury (University of Bristol) acting as respondent.

Please note that this is a closed event with very limited seating available. If anyone wishes to attend or would like any further information on the event, please contact the convenor, Rory Rowan (Royal Holloway): r.h.rowan@rhul.ac.uk

Access to the Gower Street building requires a code which can be obtained at the issue desk of Royal Holloway's building on the corner of Gower Street and Montague Place.

Light refreshments will be provided during at a mid-point break in the programme.

CONF: AAR Eastern International Region meeting 2010

2010 Regional Meeting of the American Academy of Religion Eastern International Region (AAR-EIR), at the University of Ottawa, Tabaret Hall, 550 Cumberland Avenue, Ottawa, Canada, 7-8 May 2010

www.aarweb.org/About_AAR/Regions/Eastern_International/

This conference features a panel on "Culture, Political Theology and Violence" (Panel 2/D, 8 May, 8.30-10.30 am, Room TBT070) with the following papers: Kornel Zathureczky (University of Sudbury), "Political Theologies of Europe: At the Crossroads of Competing Universalisms"; Grant Poettcker (McMaster University), "René Girard and Walter Benjamin on Sacrificial Historiography: A History Without Scapegoats?"; and Michael Sohn (University of Chicago Divinity School), "Levinas on the Question of Religion and Violence: From Universal Particularism to Particular Universalism".

Further information (full programme, how to register, etc.) is to be found on the above website.

Book: Political Spiritualities: The Pentecostal Revolution in Nigeria

Ruth Marshall, "Political Spiritualities: The Pentecostal Revolution in Nigeria" (University of Chicago Press, June 2009):

www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=6161614

Publisher's description: "After an explosion of conversions to Pentecostalism over the past three decades, tens of millions of Nigerians now claim that 'Jesus is the answer.' But if Jesus is the answer, what is the question? What led to the movement's dramatic rise and how can we make sense of its social and political significance? In this ambitiously interdisciplinary study, Ruth Marshall draws on years of fieldwork and grapples with a host of important thinkers – including Foucault, Agamben, Arendt, and Benjamin – to answer these questions. To account for the movement's success, Marshall explores how Pentecostalism presents the experience of being born again as a chance for Nigerians to realize the promises of political and religious salvation made during the colonial and postcolonial eras. Her astute analysis of this religious trend sheds light on Nigeria's contemporary politics, postcolonial statecraft, and the everyday struggles of ordinary citizens coping with poverty, corruption, and inequality. Pentecostalism's rise is truly global, and Political Spiritualities persuasively argues that Nigeria is a key case in this phenomenon while calling for new ways of thinking about the place of religion in contemporary politics."

The book includes a section on "Born-Again Political Theology".

Reviews: "This is one of the most original works in the social sciences that I've read in several years. Much more than a simple monograph that will be vital for an understanding of religious and political life in Nigeria, this book addresses all those interested in the significance of contemporary religious phenomena. Through her energetic prose, exceptional fieldwork, and clear mastery of the theoretical and ethnographic literature, Marshall offers a new perspective on religious action and social and political transformations in sub-Saharan Africa, while also making a major contribution to the historical and comparative study of religion." (Jean-François Bayart, French National Center for Scientific Research/Sciences Po Paris)

"Stunningly creative, this book breaks new ground and yields a strong new approach to questions about the politics of faith in our post-secular age. In a rare combination of theoretical clarity and historical and anthropological concreteness, Ruth Marshall succeeds in rendering politically fruitful the critique of religion while taking ever more seriously religion itself as a critique of the political in our times." (Achille Mbembe, University of the Witwatersrand/Duke University)

Ruth Marshall is Assistant Professor in the Department and Centre for the Study of Religion and the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto.

Book: Everything Is Sacred: Spiritual Exegesis in the Political Theology of Henri de Lubac

Bryan C. Hollon, "Everything Is Sacred: Spiritual Exegesis in the Political Theology of Henri de Lubac" (Cascade Books, January 2009):

http://wipfandstock.com/store/Everything_Is_Sacred_Spiritual_Exegesis_in_the_Political_Theology_of_Henri_de_Lubac

Publisher's description: "It is well known that Henri de Lubac's groundbreaking and highly controversial work on nature and grace had important implications for the Church's relationship to culture and was intended to remove a philosophical obstacle hindering Catholicism's faithful engagement with the secular world. This book addresses a too-often-neglected dimension of de Lubac's theological renewal by examining the centrality and indispensability of spiritual exegesis in his oeuvre and making explicit its social and political significance for the Church's worship and witness. In addition to exploring the historical and ecclesial context within which he worked, the current work brings de Lubac into a critical engagement with the more recent theological movements of postliberalism and Radical Orthodoxy in order to demonstrate the enduring significance of his theological vision."

Endorsement: "Hollon offers the best introduction to date on de Lubac's spiritual interpretation of Scripture. His bold recovery of Henri de Lubac's participatory hermeneutic offers an excellent contribution to the rapidly growing scholarship on the French Catholic theologian. The book argues for a hermeneutic that avoids the dual trap of isolating Jesus' biblical identity from the life of the Church (the post-liberal tendency) and of reducing Christology to ecclesiology (the fallacy of Radical Orthodoxy). Hollon convincingly argues that the Church's ontological participation in Christ is mediated through the practice of spiritual interpretation along the lines advocated by de Lubac. The result is both an incisive, sympathetic-critical engagement with contemporary hermeneutics and a superb introduction to one of the central concerns of de Lubac." (Hans Boersma, Regent College, Vancouver)

Bryan C. Hollon is Assistant Professor of Theology at Malone University.

Articles on political theology, third installment

Here's a third installment of recent articles:

Seyla Benhabib (Yale), "The Return of Political Theology: The Scarf Affair in Comparative Constitutional Perspective in France, Germany and Turkey", Philosophy & Social Criticism, 36 (3-4), March 2010:
pp. 451-71.

Abstract: "Increasingly in today's world we are experiencing intensifying antagonisms around religious and ethno-cultural differences. The confrontation between political Islam and the so-called 'West' has replaced the rhetoric of the Cold War against communism. This new constellation has not only challenged the hypothesis that 'secularization' inevitably accompanied modernity but has also placed on the agenda political theology as a potent force in many societies. This article analyzes the contemporary revival of political theology by focusing on the headscarf debate in comparative constitutional perspective. It compares the well-known decision of the French Parliament banning the wearing of the headscarf in public schools (2004) with the decision of the German Constitutional Court concerning whether Fereshta Ludin, an Afghani-German teacher wearing the hijab, could teach in German schools (2003) and with the more recent judgment of the Turkish Constitutional Court (summer 2008) upholding the ban on the wearing of the scarf or the turban in institutions of higher learning. At stake in these debates is not only the meaning of fundamental human rights but also why women and their bodies become the object of disciplinary conflicts in culture, law and religion."

Ola Sigurdson (University of Gothenburg), "Beyond Secularism? Towards a Post-Secular Political Theology", Modern Theology, 26 (2), April 2010: pp. 177-96.

Abstract: "In this article I analyse some of the reasons for a recent, resurgent interest in religion and theology by political philosophers and relate this interest to an inherent instability in modernity itself. In the first part I describe the landscape of current political philosophy with a particular emphasis on radical philosophers. In the second part I describe how the liberal distinction between religion and politics generates a theological instability due to the effective disappearance of the social embodiment of religion within modernity. In the third part I draw some conclusions regarding the challenges the new post-secular condition presents to theology."

Jared Hickman (Johns Hopkins University), "Globalization and the Gods, or the Political Theology of 'Race'", Early American Literature, 45 (1), 2010: pp. 145-82.

Excerpt: "Modernity is getting modernized. In order to explain the world in the early twenty-first century – a transnational world from which religion shows no signs of disappearing – recent scholarship increasingly considers modernity in terms of a long history of globalization whose relativizing effects cannot be equated with 'disenchantment.' In this framework, the colonial Americas – as the bridge between Atlantic and Pacific worlds – rather than Enlightenment Europe immediately take modernity's center stage insofar as globalization, by definition, became possible only with the European 'discovery' of the Americas and the momentous transformations this enabled. Eurocentrism takes an unprecedented hit when we trace modernity to an incipient globalization that necessarily coincides with intercultural encounter in the Americas and beyond rather than to an Enlightenment that proceeds from intracultural European self-reflection."

Charis N. Papacharalambous (University of Cyprus), "The Event and the Subject: The (IM)Possible Rehabilitation of Carl Schmitt", Law and Critique, 21 (1), February 2010: pp. 53-72.

Abstract: "The subject is the bearer of the sovereign decision, according to C. Schmitt. This decision grounds on certain situational pragmatics, yet mainly is born out of a 'null'; as the decision forms the political normalcy that follows after, it displays its nature as an 'event'. This subject is simultaneously a legal and a political one; it is the founder of the Nomos. This founding subject has been eclipsed in alignment with its post-modernly acclaimed 'death'. The subject is deemed to have been inherently divided, as long as its identity steadily postpones itself, is incessantly 'differing', according to the deconstructionist approach; or it is considered as fundamentally 'passive', meaning not so much 'weak', but rather dethroning the Western preoccupation with the active autonomous individual; or, it is maintained but intrinsically reversed, now held either as part of a fundamental ontological order and indirectly of the nature (Agamben), or, opposite to Kantian assumptions, as primarily captured in a radical heteronomy, which constitutes it as a proper ethical subject (Levinas). Crucial is how to develop a concept taking into account the eventfulness of the constitution of the subject, without effacing the political character of such constitution by reducing it to non-political discourses, i.e., to metaphysics, morals or economics; how to conceive of Derrida's 'democracy to-come' as political event, namely both as secular act and in the same time as referring to extramundane fundaments (to a 'political theology'?); how to go beyond the linearity of the liberalist ideology by equating the political event with a messianic miracle 'without messianism'; how to 'salute' democracy?"

Ronald Beiner (University of Toronto), "Has the Great Separation Failed?", Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society, 22 (1), March 2010: pp. 45-63.

Abstract: "In The Stillborn God, Mark Lilla illuminates why 'political theology' remains relevant today, in a world we might have assumed was thoroughly secularized. Lilla suggests that political theology is the norm, and that Christianity inadvertently gave birth to an exception. But the exception – liberal theology, or a separation of church and state that would give full play to religious impulses – was doomed. Religious impulses were not satisfied by mere moral sentiment, as offered by Rousseau and Kant; and Hegel opened the door to messianism – and eventually to Hitler – by bringing a philosophical version of redemption into liberal theology."

Michael Allen Gillespie and Lucas Perkins (both Duke University), "Political Anti-Theology", Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society, 22 (1), March 2010: pp. 65-84.

Abstract: "In The Stillborn God, Mark Lilla argues that political theology invariably leads to apocalyptic politics, and that we can avoid this fate only by maintaining a 'Great Separation' between politics and religion, such as the one that Hobbes initiated, but which was overturned by Rousseau and German liberal theology – leading to Nazism. We argue that Hobbes never established such a divide; political theology is far more diverse than Lilla suggests; and liberal German political theology was not a significant source of Nazism. Moreover, liberalism is itself a political theology, suggesting that religion and politics should not, and perhaps cannot, be divided – although they may be reconciled."

Ronnie Po-chia Hsia (Pennsylvania State University), "The Political Theologies of Empires: Jesuit Missionaries between Counter-Reformation Europe and the Chinese Empire", in "Friars, Nobles and Burghers – Sermons, Images and Prints: Studies of Culture and Society in Early-Modern Europe. In Memoriam István György Tóth", eds. Jaroslav Miller and László Kontler (Central European University Press, March 2010): page numbers not given.

www.ceupress.com/books/html/Friars-Nobles-and-Burghers.htm

No abstract or excerpt given.

Giacomo Coccolini (Associazione teologica italiana per lo studio della morale), "Il ritorno della teologia politica [The return of the political theology]", Rivista di teologia morale, 42 (165), 2010: pp. 45-55.

Abstract: "The contemporary political theology is again perceived as ambit of central reflection. It is owed to the renewed centrality of the theological matter in the current political debates, and also to the debate on the political matter related to its bases and legitimation. There are two aspects to deepen: the political one, that seems to forget its own theological origin, even though secularized; and the different theologies that, for long time, have refused a political declination of their fundamental assertions. To answer to these questions, the article analyzes three matters: the secularization of the political matter in the European public ambit; the historical relationship between Christianity and politics; the inseparable connection between theology and politics in the today's post-secular society [sic]."

Kristien Justaert (Catholic University of Leuven), "Liberation Theology: Deleuze and Althaus-Reid", SubStance: A Review of Theory and Literary Criticism, 39 (1), April 2010: pp. 154-64.

Excerpt: "The contemporary relation between theology and philosophy is a complicated one, but there is at least one strand in theology that has always explicitly used philosophical mediations to clarify and support its theological programme: so-called liberation theology. [...] According to one of the most famous liberation theologians, Enrique Dussel, Marx's thought as a 'philosophy of liberation' was used to 'formulate a metaphysics demanded by revolutionary praxis and technologico-design poiesis against the background of peripheral social formations. To do this it is necessary to deprive Being of its alleged eternal and divine foundation' [...]. This last remark is crucial to understanding the world view and the general perspective of liberation theologians: it is holistic and immanent, not created by a transcendent God that made creation necessarily Good. On the contrary, creation is pervaded with sin, in every place and in every moment where or when human beings or other creatures are oppressed. It is in the 'face' of the oppressed that God can be found, and from the perspective of the 'poor' (in a broad sense) that resistance must grow."

Laura C. Robson (Portland State University), "Palestinian Liberation Theology: Muslim-Christian Relations and the Arab-Israeli Conflict", Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 21 (1), January 2010: pp. 39-50.

Abstract: "This article offers an investigation of the history and intellectual development of Palestinian liberation theology. It focuses in particular on the ways in which the movement's founding writers both made use of and departed from the Latin American model to produce a new theology firmly grounded in specific, local historical and political conditions; the importance of the first intifada for the genesis of this new Palestinian version of liberation theology; and the effort by Palestinian liberation theologians to recast the relationship between Christianity and Islam in the modern Israeli/Palestinian context. It argues that Palestinian liberation theology has become an important intellectual movement among Palestinian Christian elites who seek to convince both Western Christians and Middle Eastern Muslims of a Christian theological justification for a political solution to the Palestinian plight."

Nissim Leon (Bar-Ilan University), "The Transformation of Israel's Religious-Zionist Middle Class", Journal of Israeli History, 29 (1), March 2010: pp. 61-78.

Abstract: "This article argues that the emergence of a new religious-Zionist middle class in Israel may be a factor in restraining the radical potential of the political tendencies that research on religious Zionism has been pointing to for years. It examines, as test cases, the restrained protest against the Israeli disengagement from Gaza in 2005 and the most recent attempt to change the political leadership of the religious-Zionist parties prior to the 2009 elections. It concludes by connecting the processes described here with a discussion of the possible role of the Israeli middle class in mitigating the rifts within Israeli society."

Anthony G. Reddie (Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education), "Exploring the Workings of Black Theology in Britain: Issues of Theological Method and Epistemological Construct", Black Theology: An International Journal, 7 (1), 2009: pp. 64-85.

Abstract: "This essay outlines two contrasting methods for undertaking Black theology in Britain, namely the respective work of Robert Beckford and that of the author of this paper. The paper is offered as a contribution to the wider development of urban theology in Britain. The author, who is one of the leading Black theologians in Britain, offers this work as a means of unpacking some of the methodological and epistemological concerns of this developing mode of largely Christian inspired Black theological reflection in this country."

Anthony G. Reddie (Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education), "Not Just Seeing, But Really Seeing: A Practical Black Liberationist Spirituality for Re-interpreting Reality", Black Theology: An International Journal, 7 (3), 2009: pp. 339-65.

Abstract: "One of the biggest challenges that confront Black people living in the UK is how to assess the veracity of the macro and micro contexts in which our lives are lived. In a country whose indices for what constitutes normality and acceptability are predicated on notions of 'Whiteness', Black people have always needed to possess an armoury of experiential and psycho-social tools in order to discern how to live as a potent symbol of 'otherness' within the body politic of the nation. This essay, which arises from engagement with a group of Black Methodists, seeks to demonstrate how the use of personal experience and the role the spirit in Black life can lead to ways of being able to discern ones positionality within the broader world of White dominated Britain. The essay brings together reflections on Black theology, Pneumatology and experiential learning in order to great a Practical/Participative Black theology for seeing and reinterpreting the reality of being Black in Britain."

Jonathan L. Walton (University of California, Riverside), "Black Theology and Birmingham: Revisiting a Conversation on Culture", Black Theology: An International Journal, 7 (3), 2009: pp. 259-81.

Abstract: "The purpose of this essay is to trace the development of the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies in order to suggest that it offers a viable option for black liberation theologians concerned with interpreting the intersections of theology and culture in general, and pop culture forms of religious expression such as televangelism in particular. This essay will reveal that the varying methods of cultural studies and black theology have, in many ways, mirrored one another since their respective inceptions. And over the course of the past decade leading black liberation theologians have appealed to the theories and methods of cultural studies in their work. Yet a review of Dwight Hopkins theological analysis of the intersections of black religion and popular culture will demonstrate that revisiting the Birmingham tradition can still prove beneficial, theoretically and methodologically, to the black liberation project. This is particular true in regards to finding the appropriate balance between creative cultural agency and interpretive freedom of the folk, on the one hand, and the ideological dimensions of mass mediated cultural expression such as black televangelism, on the other."

Young Bin Moon (Seoul Women's University), "God as a Communicative System Sui Generis: Beyond the Psychic, Social, Process Models of the Trinity", Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science, 45 (1), March 2010: 105-26.

Abstract: "With an aim to develop a public theology for an age of information media (or media theology), this article proposes a new
God-concept: God is a communicative system sui generis that autopoietically processes meaning/information in the supratemporal realm via perfect divine media ad intra (Word/Spirit). For this task, Niklas Luhmann's systems theory is critically appropriated in dialogue with theology. First, my working postmetaphysical/epistemological stance is articulated as realistic operational constructivism and functionalism. Second, a series of arguments are advanced to substantiate the thesis: (1) God is an observing system sui generis; (2) self-referential communication is divine operation; (3) unsurpassable complexity is divine mystery; (4) supratemporal autopoiesis of meaning is divine processing; (5) agape is the symbolic medium of divine communication. Third, this communicative model of God is developed into a trinitarian theology, with a claim that this model offers a viable alternative beyond the standard (psychic, social, process) models. Finally, some implications of this model are explored for constructive theology (conceiving creation as divine mediatization) and for science-and-religion in terms of derivative models: (1) God as a living system sui generis and (2) God as a meaning system sui generis."

Matthew L. Becker (Valparaiso University), "What Good is Theology?", Daystar Journal, fall 2009: page numbers not given. Available here:

http://daystarnet.org/Jounal-spring-2010/What%20Good%20Is%20Theology.pdf

Excerpt: "How does good theology relate to the publics that are 'society' and 'the world'? In other words, is there a viable 'public theology' that can claim the adjective 'good?' While the constraints of this little essay preclude even a partially-developed understanding of public theology, a few key elements can be highlighted."