scholarly journals A practical theology of liberation: Mimetic theory, liberation theology and practical theology

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel D. Aguilar Ramírez ◽  
Stephan De Beer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Global South ◽  
Guatemala City ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Mimetic Theory ◽  
Spatial Justice ◽  
Theology Of Liberation

In this article, the authors bring two personal journeys together: one author’s liberationist journey, sparked by a search for justice and liberation in the slums of Guatemala City, and the other’s lifelong commitment to practical theology and spatial justice in South Africa. A practical theology of liberation is the result of life experiences in countries of the Global South amidst the search for justice and liberation. The worlds that come together in this article are René Girard’s mimetic theory, liberation theology and practical theology. This article raises the question of the cross-contextuality of practical theology and the theological application of mimetic theory to develop innovative theological methodologies that respond to the collective woundedness of the urban context in the Global South.Contribution: The main contribution of this article is the use of three seemingly different theological approaches in conjunction. This article opens the door to inform practical theology with René Girard’s mimetic theory and liberation theology.

scholarly journals Black theology versus black spirituality and black faith: The centrality of spirituality and faith in black theology of liberation in the South African context

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olehile A. Buffel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Theology ◽  
Spiritual Journey ◽  
Black Liberation ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Theology Of Liberation

Black theology, which is linked to black power in the context of the United States of America and black consciousness in the context of South Africa is often regarded as having nothing to do with spirituality, faith and salvation. It is often regarded by critics as radical, militant and political. In some circles its theological character is questioned. Advocates of liberation theology, past and present are accused of mixing religion with politics. The article traces the history of black theology, as part of liberation theology, which started in the 1960s in three contexts, namely Latin America, United States of America and South Africa. The article argues that spirituality, faith and salvation are central to black theology of liberation. The critical theological reflection that black theology of liberation is all about happens in the context of the spiritual journey of the poor believer and oppressed.Contribution: The contribution that this article makes is to serve as a corrective discourse that rebuts the mistaken accusation that black liberation theology has nothing to do with spirituality and faith. The article makes a direct link between spirituality and faith on the one hand and on the other hand liberating Christian praxis of the poor in their spiritual journey, in the context of South Africans as they struggle to liberate themselves amid poverty, service delivery struggles and COVID-19 and its implications.

scholarly journals Prophetic Theology in Black Theology, with special reference to the Kairos document

2010 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vuyani S. Vellem
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Black Theology ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Prophetic Vision ◽  
Political Praxis ◽  
Alternative Community ◽  
Best Responses ◽  
Theology Of Liberation

The ‘Protest’ and ‘Confessing’ Models in the streams of Black Theology of liberation provide a creative link between the Prophetic Theology in the Kairos document (KD) and the Black Theology of liberation. Launched in a distinct moment of history – an ‘opportune moment’ – the KD propagated the best responses among some and the worst among others as a rapturous critique of State and Church theologies. In this article, I argued that the KD, which remains a version of liberation theology par excellence, offers a methodology that is still appropriate to our democratisation processes in South Africa. The KD is the product of a theology that did not only expand the contours of traditional theology, but also understood confession as a political praxis. Thus, the interest of the poor should still mitigate forth-telling in our democratic vision in dialogue inspired by the alluring prophetic vision of an alternative community based on the principles of the reign of God.

scholarly journals Shorter commutes, but for whom? Comparing the distributional effects of Bus Rapid Transit on commute times in Cape Town, South Africa, and Barranquilla, Colombia

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 647-667
Author(s):  
Manuel Santana Palacios ◽  
Lisa Rayle
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Global South ◽  
Bus Rapid Transit ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Using Data

Bus rapid transit has become an increasingly popular investment in cities in the Global South, where policy discourse often positions BRT as a pro-poor investment. Planners usually expect BRT to reduce commute times in urban areas, particularly for economically disadvantaged populations, thus reducing mobility gaps between transit users across different socioeconomic population groups. Despite increased interest in BRT, there is surprisingly limited research testing these assumptions. Using data from a retrospective survey administered in Barranquilla, Colombia, and Cape Town, South Africa, we investigated whether BRT contributes to reducing commute time gaps between socioeconomic populations. Our comparative and distributional analyses indicate that, while BRT narrowed the gap in commute times in Cape Town, it did not contribute to closing the gap in Barranquilla. We argue that this contradiction may, in part, be explained by the degree to which BRT route configuration responded to the urban form and pre-BRT transit conditions in each city—two factors often overlooked in academic literature and discussions surrounding BRT planning. We close by providing policy recommendations that promote more equitable planning practices and recognize the links between transport and land uses in the Global South urban context.

Can SPLUMA Play a Role in Transforming Spatial Injustice to Spatial Justice in Housing in South Africa?

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeannie Van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
National Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Spatial Development ◽  
Land Use Management ◽  
Spatial Justice ◽  
Spatial Environment

Our spatial environment is one of the most important determinants of our well-being and life chances. It relates to schools, opportunities, businesses, recreation and access to public services. Spatial injustice results where discrimination determines that spatial environment. Since Apartheid in South Africa epitomised the notion of spatial injustice, tools and instruments are required to transform spatial injustice into spatial justice. One of these is the employment of principles of spatial justice. While the National Development Plan (NDP) recognised that all spatial development should conform to certain normative principles and should explicitly indicate how the requirements of these should be met, the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013 (SPLUMA) contains a more concrete principle of spatial justice. It echoes aspects of both the South African land reform programme and global principles of spatial justice. Essentially section 7(a) of SPLUMA entails three components: (1) redressing past spatial imbalances and exclusions; (2) including people and areas previously excluded and (3) upgrading informal areas and settlements. SPLUMA directs municipalities to apply the principle in its spatial development frameworks, land use schemes and, most importantly, in decision-making on development applications. The aim of this article is to determine whether the application of this principle in practice can move beyond the confines of spatial planning and land use management to address the housing issue in South Africa. Central to housing is section 26 of the Constitution, that has received the extensive attention of the Constitutional Court. The court has not hesitated to criticize the continuing existence of spatial injustice, thus contributing to the transformation of spatial injustice to spatial justice. Since planning, housing and land reform are all intertwined not only the role of SPLUMA, but also the NDP and the myriad other policies, programmes and legislation that are attempting to address the situation are examined and tested against the components of the principle of spatial justice in SPLUMA.

scholarly journals The Conditions for after Work: Financialization and Informalization in Posttransition South Africa

PMLA ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 127 (4) ◽  
pp. 782-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Maria Makhulu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Global South ◽  
First Century ◽  
Informal Employment ◽  
Shop Floor ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Informal Economies ◽  
Forms Of Life ◽  
Modes Of Life

This essay situates the problem of twenty-first-century work in the global South—specifically, in South Africa—to challenge northern theories of the crisis of work. Addressing the break between Fordism and post-Fordism peculiar to the postcolonial context, it argues that new regimes of work should be understood in relation both to longer histories of colonial resistance to proletarianization (to the racisms of the shop floor) and to colonial Fordisms, as well as to the way these two factors inform the current expansion of informal employment. What practices and forms of life emerge from the precarity of informal economies and informal settlements? How are precarious modes of life connected to and informed by the steady dematerialization of the economy through financialization?

scholarly journals Karoo fracking and the Christian faith community

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerrit Van Tonder ◽  
Roger Tucker
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Faith Community ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
World Population ◽  
Waste Products ◽  
To Come

One of the challenges for Practical Theology in Africa is to engage with the continent’s concerns and challenges in such a way that the kingdom of God is realised in society and is seen to be relevant to these issues by people who are outside of academia. In our article, which was first presented at the Practical Theology congress in Pretoria in January 2014, the authors seek to demonstrate how this may be accomplished by applying insights to one concern, namely ‘fracking’. The objective is to mobilise the influential Christian faith community in South Africa to begin to exercise prophetic discernment concerning fracking in the Karoo. The fracking debate is a product of the tension between the environmental degradation that its waste products may cause, on the one hand, and, on the other, the greater energy demands of a rapidly increasing world population along with its expectations of an ever-increasing standard of living. Shale gas fracking in the Karoo region of South Africa promises to make vast reserves of oil and gas available to help meet a significant percentage of the country’s energy needs for many years to come, and so thus aid development and contribute to raising the standard of living of many people. Yet the management of the waste products associated with the process is an area of serious environmental concern. The article aims to apprise the South African Christian faith community of the technology and risks involved. Theological guidelines are presented by which fracking’s benefits and dangers can be interrogated so that the community may come to an informed decision as to whether or not to support fracking.

scholarly journals The diakonia of Practical Theology to the alienated in South Africa in the light of 1 Peter

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gert Breed
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Service Work ◽  
1 Peter ◽  
Word Group ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
Biblical Perspective

This article investigates the role that Practical Theology can play in addressing the problem of alienation amongst the people of South Africa. The investigation is conducted from the viewpoint of the biblical concept of diakonia (service work). This concept as well as the content of Practical Theology as it is found in the first letter of Peter is investigated with the purpose of elucidating the diakonia of Practical Theology with regard to alienation. Four questions are answered in the article:� What may some of the reasons why people in South Africa experience alienation be?� What significance do the results of the most recent research into the diakon word group have for the diakonia of Practical Theology?� What insight can be gained from 1 Peter into the diakonia of Practical Theology for people who may be experiencing alienation in South Africa?� What should the diakonia of Practical Theology in the light of 1 Peter be for people who experience alienation? Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article addresses the issue of alienation. This is an issue that also falls within the research field of sociology and psychology. This article wants to make a contribution from a biblical perspective using the exegesis of a New Testament letter (1 Pt) with the focus on 1 Peter 4:10 and the use of the diakon word group in the letter. The article thus also operates on the research field of New Testament Theology. The results of the exegesis are used to give guidelines for the diakonia of Practical Theology in South Africa. The article challenges the way some research in Practical Theology is done, not using the Bible as reference point, thus making the distinction between Practical Theology and sciences like sociology and psychology indistinct.

scholarly journals The colonial matrix of power: Image ontology and the question of blackness

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Itumeleng D. Mothoagae
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Africa ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Black People ◽  
World Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global South ◽  
Black Theology ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

The question of blackness has always featured the intersectionality of race, gender, sexuality and class. Blackness as an ontological speciality has been engaged from both the social and epistemic locations of the damnés (in Fanonian terms). It has thus sought to respond to the performance of power within the world order that is structured within the colonial matrix of power, which has ontologically, epistemologically, spatially and existentially rendered blackness accessible to whiteness, while whiteness remains inaccessible to blackness. The article locates the question of blackness from the perspective of the Global South in the context of South Africa. Though there are elements of progress in terms of the conditions of certain Black people, it would be short-sighted to argue that such conditions in themselves indicate that the struggles of blackness are over. The essay seeks to address a critique by Anderson (1995) against Black theology in the context of the United States of America (US). The argument is that the question of blackness cannot and should not be provincialised. To understand how the colonial matrix of power is performed, it should start with the local and be linked with the global to engage critically the colonial matrix of power that is performed within a system of coloniality. Decoloniality is employed in this article as an analytical tool.Contribution: The article contributes to the discourse on blackness within Black theology scholarship. It aims to contribute to the continual debates on the excavating and levelling of the epistemological voices that have been suppressed through colonial epistemological universalisation of knowledge from the perspective of the damnés.

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