Fall 2004
Cancelled

SOCS 641 (AMST)
Christianity and Globalization: Liberation Theology and Pentecostalism in the Americas and Africa

McAlister,Elizabeth

09/13/2004 - 12/18/2004
Wednesday -

Liberation theology, with its advocacy of a "preferential option for the poor," offers those concerned with human rights a moral compass for future action. For liberation theology, "the poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action, but a demand that we go and build a different social order." (Guiterrez, 1983) Indeed, liberation theology has been a powerful influence in many human rights movements in the Americas, from the Sandinista revolution to social movements in grassroots Brazil. In contrast, for Pentecostalism, the largest-growing religious

movement in the hemisphere today, there is little imperative to contribute to the common good. Rather, the common good is a by-product of the righteous lives of believers, as they enact the outward signs of personal salvation. This advanced seminar compares the religious thought and ethnographic writings of liberation theology with Pentecostalism in Latin America and the Caribbean (and Africa), with an emphasis on the rise of global Pentecostalism and its connections with the United States.

Readings include Gutierrez, A THEOLOGY OF LIBERATION; Vasquez, THE BRAZILIAN POPULAR CHURCH; Balmer, MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY; Jenkins, GLOBAL CHRISTIANITY; Bornstein, THE SPIRIT OF DEVELOPMENT; Vasquez, GLOBALIZING THE SACRED; Corten and Marshall-Fratani, BETWEEN BABEL AND PENTECOST; Peterson et al, CHRISTIANITY, SOCIAL CHANGE AND GLOBALIZATION IN THE AMERICAS; and Kintz, MEDIA, CULTURE AND THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT.

Students will be responsible for weekly response papers, active participation in discussion, and a final 15--20 page research paper.


Elizabeth McAlister (B.A. Vassar College; M.A., Ph.D. Yale University) is associate professor and chair of religion, and professor of African American studies and American studies. She is author of Rara! Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora (University of California Press, 2002). Click here for more information about Elizabeth McAlister and click here for more information about her work.

ENROLLMENT INFORMATION

Consent of Instructor Required: No

Format: Seminar

Level: GLSP Credits: 3 Enrollment Limit: 18

Texts to purchase for this course:
Elizabeth Brusco, REFORMATION OF MACHISMO: EVANGELICAL CONVERSION AND GENDER IN COLUMBIA (University of Texas Press), Paperback

Marie Griffith, GOD'S DAUGHTERS: EVANGELICAL WOMEN AND THE POWER OF SUBMISSION (University of California Press), Paperback

Frank Hammond, PIGS IN THE PARLOR (Impact Christian Books), Paperback

Philip Jenkins, THE NEXT CHRISTENDOM: THE COMING OF GLOBAL CHRISTIANITY (Oxford University Press), Paperback

Peter Wagner, BREAKING STRONGHOLDS IN YOUR CITY (Regal Books), Paperback

READING MATERIALS AVAILABLE AT BROAD STREET BOOKS, 45 BROAD STREET, MIDDLETOWN, 860-685-7323

PLEASE NOTE: A course packet will be available for purchase at Suburban Stationers, 16 Stack Street, Middletown, CT 06457, (860) 347-0299.

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