Toward a Micro-Political Theology: A Dialogue Between Michel Foucault and Liberation Theologies - Paperback

by Yin-An Chen (Author), Jeremy Carrette (Foreword by)

Has liberation theology reached a dead end? Has the time come to propose another strategy of political resistance, one that considers and takes account of the complexity of power relationships in daily life? How can we explore the deeper meaning of freedom and liberation? This book begins with a reflection on the "failure" of social movements and revolutions and a review of the methodologies of liberation theologies. Offering a brand-new micro-political theology, it attempts to demonstrate how Michel Foucault can help us recognize the limitations of our standard definitions of liberation. Continuing Foucault's critical engagement with desire, sexuality, and the body, this book opens a fresh dialogue between Althaus-Reid's indecent theology, Latin American liberation theology, and radical orthodoxy, leading to an exploration of how that dialogue can remind us that spirituality and the transformative practice of the self can themselves be fully political. It also urges prayer as both the radical root of political resistance and its action.

Author Biography

Yin-An Chen is research associate at Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide and lecturer of theology and Anglicanism in Taiwan. He received his MPhil in theology from Kent, an MA in Christian theology from Durham, and an MA in anthropology from National Taiwan University. He is interested in queer theology, political theology, and critical theory.