Against Empire: Ekklesial Resistance and the Politics of Radical Democracy
Ebook
Overview
Against Empire analyzes the relationship between Christian theology and radical democracy by exploring how black prophetic thought, feminist theology, Latin American liberation theology, and peaceable theology offer plural forms of ekklesial resistance to empire: the black church (Cornel West), the ekklesia of wo/men (Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza), the church of the poor (Ignacio Ellacuria, Jon Sobrino), and the peaceable church (Stanley Hauerwas). These approaches to Christian political engagement differ in their specific focus but share common resistance to neoliberalism, nationalism, and militarism as networks of power that intersect with racism, sexism, and neo-colonialism to form what they refer to as empire. In diverse ways, West, Schussler Fiorenza, Ellacuria and Sobrino, and Hauerwas reimagine Christian witness as a form of radical democratic resistance to empire in the face of political formations that not only block the expansion of democracy (neoliberal-neoconservative hegemony) but also attempt to retrench its achievements (authoritarian populism).
“Timely and provocative, this book argues that the church can
serve as the locus for political resistance against the deadening
forces of empire and contribute to a radically democratic future.
It combines astute political analysis and prophetic visions of
Christianity, and takes into consideration race, gender, class, and
violence. I highly recommend it.”
—Kwok Pui-lan, Dean’s Professor of Systematic Theology, Candler
School of Theology, Emory University
“Anyone who wants to understand our world today should read this
compelling and beautifully written book. Eggemeier constructs a
dynamic and nuanced conversation among an extraordinary range of
the most insightful contemporary political theorists and political
theologies. The result of this subtle and thoughtful analysis is a
clearer understanding of the political dynamics of our post-Trump
world, as well as a genuinely alternative path forward for those
Christians wishing to resist our current, death-dealing
empire.”
—Mary Doak, Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, University
of San Diego
- Title: Against Empire: Ekklesial Resistance and the Politics of Radical Democracy
- Author: Matthew T. Eggemeier
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781532657887, 9781532657863, 9781532657870, 1532657889, 1532657862, 1532657870
- Resource ID: LLS:9781532657887
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T13:28:48Z
Matthew T. Eggemeier is associate professor in the department of
religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester,
Massachusetts, where he teaches courses on political theology and
liberation theology. He is author of A Sacramental-Prophetic
Vision: Christian Spirituality in a Suffering World (2014) and,
with Peter Fritz, Send Lazarus: Catholicism and the Crises of
Neoliberalism (2020).