Ethnography as Christian Theology and Ethics: A Fully Revised 2nd Edition (T&T Clark Studies in Social Ethics, Ethnography and Theologies)

by Christian B. Scharen; Aana Marie Vigen

Publisher:

Bloomsbury

, 2024

Overview

How can qualitative research methods be a tool for social change? Echoing the ‘scandal of particularity’ at the heart of the Christian tradition, theologians and ethicists involved in ethnographic research draw on the particular to seek out answers to core questions of their discipline.

This new edition features a dynamic selection of nuanced and provocative voices in this area of ethics and theology, showing how, in the past decade, the kinds of qualitative methodologies employed have become more varied and sophisticated. The leading and emerging scholars featured in this book have much to share how they approach this kind of work, what they are learning in the process, and what sorts of change is possible as a result. This volume also pays tribute to the life and work of a pathbreaker in qualitative methods for the sake of theological imagination and social change, the Rev. Dr. Melissa D. Browning (1977-2021).

Key Features

• Features a dynamic selection of nuanced and provocative voices in ethics and theology
• Shows how qualitative methodologies employed in ethics and theology have become more sophisticated
• Pays tribute to the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Melissa D. Browning

Contents

• Foreword - Traci West (Drew University, USA)
• Reflections on the Life, Works, and Legacy of Rev. Dr Melissa Brown Browning | Damaris S. Parsitau (Egerton University, Kenya) and Emily Reimer-Barry (University of San Diego, USA)
• Part I – Revised Versions from Vol. 1
• Chapter 1: What is Ethnography? | Aana Marie Vigen (Loyola University, USA)
• Chapter 2: The Ethnographic Turn in Theology and Ethics | Christian Scharen (PThU, the Netherlands)
• Chapter 3: Critiques of the Use of Social Science in Theology and Ethics | Christian Scharen (PThU, the Netherlands)
• Chapter 4: Theological Justifications for Turning to Ethnography | Aana Marie Vigen (Loyola University, USA)
• Part II - New Exemplars
• Chapter 5: A Conversation Between the Researcher and the Research Assistant on Ethnographic Praxis | Elina Hankela & Clementine Nishimwe (University of Johannesburg, South Africa)
• Chapter 6: Ethnography and Crucified Bodies: A Liberationist-Incarnational Approach | Sunder John Boopalan (Canadian Mennonite University, Canada) and RC Jongte (Princeton Theological Seminary, USA)
• Chapter 7: A Trauma-Ridden Body Lifted High: Eschatological Imagination in a Public Square | Hee-Kyu Heidi Park, Ewha Women's University, South Korea)
• Chapter 8: Theodicies at the Border: Grasping with Evil in the Lives of Indonesian Female Migrant Workers in Singapore | Lailatul Fitriyah (Claremont School of Theology, USA)
• Chapter 9: Fieldnotes from the Garden: Methods, Ethics, and Rants | Nikki Hoskins (University of Scranton, USA)
• Chapter 10: The Curious Case of the Swedish Woman: Ethnographic Reflexivity and Accountability in Transnational Feminism | Sara A. Williams (Fairfield University, USA)
• Chapter 11: Qualitatively Studying Evangelical Whiteness | Nicole Symmonds (Columbia Theological Seminary, USA)
• Chapter 12: Inhabiting the Aftermath of Violence: Guns and the Practice of Vigil Keeping | Michael Grigoni (Wake Forest University, USA)
• Chapter 13: Making Lemonade with Substitute Sugar: Towards an Ethics of Receptivity | AnneMarie Mingo (Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, USA)
• Part III - Method
• Chapter 14: Benedictions: For Those Willing to Give Ethnography a Try
• Bibliography
• About the Contributors
• Index

Praise for Ethnography as Christian Theology and Ethics

This 2nd edition of the volume is no less important than the first one. Then, it was an inspiration for many of us who looked for ways of integrating theology, ethics, and ethnography. Now, by including contemporary examples and adding new and relevant research to the arguments, it offers stimulating reading for anyone who wants to read and do embodied modes of theology. In a culture obsessed by separation, this volume does the important work of suggesting how we might do theology in ways that hold together reflection and ethics as well as research and discipleship.

—Jonas Ideström, University College Stockholm, Sweden

Product Details

• Title: Ethnography as Christian Theology and Ethics: A Fully Revised 2nd Edition (T&T Clark Studies in Social Ethics, Ethnography and Theologies)
• Authors: Christian B. Scharen, Aana Marie Vigen
• Edition: Revised 2nd Edition
• Series: T&T Clark Studies in Social Ethics, Ethnography and Theologies
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Logos Release Date: 2025
• Pages: 304
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Theology and Ethics; Ethnography; Christianity and culture; Ethnology–Religious aspects–Christianity; Christian ethics
• ISBNs: 9780567710451, 9780567710468, 0567710459, 0567710467
• Resource ID: LLS:THNGRPHYSCH2NDD
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-09-22T20:55:12Z