Mistrust: Ethnographic Approximations

Scholars have long seen trust as a foundational social good. We therefore have ample studies on building trust in free markets, on cultivating trust in the state, and on rebuilding trust through civil society. The contributors to this volume, instead, take a step back. They ask: Can mistrust ever be more than the flip side of trust, more than the sign of an absence or failure? By looking ethnographically at what a variety of actors actually do when they express mistrust, this volume offers a richly empirical trove of the social life of mistrust across a range of settings

Dwelling in diversity: religion and belonging in Kibera, a neighbourhood in Nairobi

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of how religious communities make and take place in Kibera, a neighbourhood that is also a homeland in the city of Nairobi. Since its establishment in 1907, the debate about who belongs in Kibera and to whom Kibera belongs has shaped how religious communities in Kibera define themselves and relate to each other. This debate is presently intensified by land struggles between religious communities on the one hand, and a series of unannounced bulldozing's on the other, as the Kenyan government advances its project to develop Nairobi into a world-class city. This study asks, how do religious communities in Kibera make religion work and maintain belonging to each other amidst such change and uncertainty, and where the meaning of Kibera ‒ as a neighbourhood, home, and homeland is contested? If the neighbourhood is routinely made and unmade, to what extent is religion the locus of belonging for the residents of Kibera? Through oral, social, and life histories, as well as archival materials, this ethnographic study examines how Kibera became an urban homeland in Nairobi, how the distinction between ‘home' and ‘homeland' creates a different sense of belonging for the religious communities who live there, and what it means for some religious communities to perform their religion in another's homeland. It argues that religious communities make religion in Kibera work by maintaining a sense of belonging to people and places elsewhere and in so doing, invent ways to respond to life in a changing and contested neighbourhood

Social Ethics in Inter-Religious Interaction

It seems impossible to think of religion’s contribution to the development of social ethics when religion is practiced in a space and time where it is in its ostensibly exclusive form. In the last few years, the Indonesian space has been letting out an ambiance of presenting a closed understanding of religious guidance to followers who adhere to it with minimum wiggle space for the “goodness” of God’s guidance to embrace the people out there. Generosity to contribute a part of religious tradition to another group, on the one hand, is held back by the spirit of differentness and history of enmity, while on the other, the willingness to acquire from the neighbouring treasure-trove is obstructed by the concern of tainting the “holy” teaching of religion itself. In addition to that, how shared living spaces which overlaps in various issues with an individual and/ or religious followers living spaces is established so that all the people in a diverse society as Indonesia can live life freely, safely, and peacefully, as well as advance their self-potential without fear or prejudice from other members. Notions of this matter can be obtained from religious sources, although this is achieved sometimes by developing a certain exegesis of religious principles, that is through the creation of a wholly new exegesis or acquiring a dated source aged by history. Aside from technical knowledge in reading of religious text, this effort takes courage. The writings provided to the reader of this book, although collected under the title “Social Ethics in Inter Religious Interaction”, consist of nine articles which could be further specified into three categories: five writings regarding religious theme of particular traditions, three writings referring to social theme which take on thoughts from religious traditions, and one writing discussing public space where religion plays a role as a quite determining factor

On Dialectics and Human Decency: Education in the Dock

Set against the backdrop of the contemporary crisis of capitalism and world-historical events, this article examines the advance of globalized imperialism from the perspective of a Marxist-humanist approach to pedagogy known as ‘revolutionary critical pedagogy’ enriched by liberation theology. It is written as an epistolic manifesto to the transnational capitalist class, demanding that those who willingly serve its interests reconsider their allegiance and calling for a planetary revolution in the way that we both think about capitalism and how education and religion serves to reproduce it at the peril of both students and humanity as a whole

Volume 29 — Religions as Social Bridge-builders for Dialogue and Peace in Africa and the World Bulletin of Ecumenical Theology

https://dsc.duq.edu/beth/1037/thumbnail.jp

Care in Healthcare

medical ethics; healthcare; nursing; midwifer

Transformative spiritualities : for the pilgrimage of justice and peace

The Churches of the World Council of Churches have been on a “Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace”- together with people of goodwill—since they met for their assembly in Busan in 2013. Building peace with justice has been at the heart of the ecumenical movement since its beginnings. It reflects the call of the churches in a wounded world caused by systemic injustice - racism, sexism, xenophobia, economic exploitation, and violence among humans and against nature, our “Mother”. While political advocacy, theological reflections, and ethical orientation have been high on the agenda of the World Council of Churches, the spiritual dimension of a “just peace” has not always received the same attention. Starting a Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, the WCC began to focus intentionally on “transformative spiritualities” in order to (re-)discover the strength of the many and diverse faith communities around the globe. What is the well of that distinct power to resist evil with good, to transform injustices into a life of dignity for all, to heal broken relations – including Mother nature? And what are some of the spiritual practices that inspire communities on that “sacred walk”? This volume provides a selection of reflections on those transformative spiritualities, from indigenous perspectives to women’s voices, from black communities´ to campesino/as´ struggles, from specific Christian traditions to sister faiths. It is that common well we all drink from - inviting readers to participate in that promise that a life in peace and justice is, in fact, possible for all

The ministry of music: a case study on the United Church Of Zambia and the New Jerusalem Church

Doctor TheologiaeThis research project is situated in the history of Christianity in Zambia with specific reference to the relationship between the United Church of Zambia and the New Jerusalem Church, one of the so-called African Instituted Churches (AICs). Since the 1950s numerous members of the UCZ have become attracted to the New Jerusalem Church. Why is this case? One may identify several factors in this regard, including the administration of sacraments such as Baptism and Holy Communion also the ministry of faith healing, the ministry of pastoral care the confession of sins and the assurance of pardon. In this research project I have investigated one such factor namely the role of the ministry of music in these two churches. The term ministry of music in this context refers to praise and worship in the liturgy, to the significance of church choirs, the role of music leaders, the appropriation of melodies from various sources, the use of musical instruments and then of course to the actual text of the hymns that are sung. In this research project the focus has been on a description and analysis of the lyrics of selected hymns. This is based on the observation that the hymns that are frequently sung constitute the “theology of laity”. This project has first identified those hymns that are frequently sung in selected congregations of the United Church of Zambia and the New Jerusalem Church. For this study five urban and five rural congregations of both churches were selected. The identification of such hymns was done through interviews with the local pastors and the musical leadership of the selected congregation. On the basis of this process of identification ten of these hymns in each of the four categories mentioned above were subjected to closer analysis. The question that was addressed is this: What similarities and differences may be identified in the text of hymns sung frequently in urban and rural congregations of the United Church of Zambia and the New Jerusalem Church? The point of comparison that was used in this regard is the soteriologies embedded in the text of the selected hymns, that is, the notions of salvation expressed through these hymns. The study therefore sought to identify, describe and analyse the underlying soteriologies in the ministry of music in these two churches. It also assessed the significance of the similarities and differences identified in this way. The assumption was that there may be different images of salvation embedded in such hymns and that these may partially account for attracting people to a particular church

Reclaiming Romanticism

The earliest environmental criticism took its inspiration from the Romantic poets and their immersion in the natural world. Today the “romanticising” of nature has come to be viewed with suspicion. Written by one of the leading ecocritics writing today, Reclaiming Romanticism rediscovers the importance of the European Romantic tradition to the ways that writers and critics engage with the environment in the Anthropocene era. Exploring the work of such poets as Wordsworth, Shelley and Clare, the book discovers a rich vein of Romantic ecomaterialism and brings these canonical poets into dialogue with contemporary American, Canadian and Australian poets and artists. Kate Rigby demonstrates the ways in which Romantic ecopoetics responds to postcolonial challenges and environmental peril to offer a collaborative artistic practice for an era of human-non-human cohabitation and kinship