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School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music
Liberation theology

Special Journal Issue on The Future of Liberation Theologies

Dr Peter Admirand – Guest Editor for Religions on Special Issue on “The Future of Liberation Theologies” (Submission Abstracts due January 15, 2023)

Dr Admirand and Prof Thia Cooper (Professor in Religion; Peace Studies; Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies; and LALACS at Gustavus Adolphus College) are inviting submissions for a Special Issue on “The Future of Liberation Theologies” for the open-access journal, Religions.

More details here (and below):

Dear Colleagues, 

Amidst entrenched inequalities, war, poverty, and ecological peril, liberation theologies have been both vibrant and sorely needed in the 21st century. Traditional liberationist themes of class and political repression continue to be developed, and new “elephants” in the room are being brought to light, including issues of sex and sexuality; hierarchies; the need for decolonization; and more robust and candid interreligious, intrareligious, and secular–religious engagement. Thus, liberation theologies should celebrate the diversity of perspectives, highlighting in particular those most marginalized. Building on the strong work of many liberationists over the past decades, as well as the AAR Liberation Theologies Group, and the 2013 edited volume, The Reemergence of Liberation Theologies: Models for the Twenty-First Century, this Special Issue invites contributions on the future of liberation theologies, especially from interdisciplinary perspectives. This Special Issue asks (and aims to tentatively answer) key questions such as: Where should liberation theologies direct their attention? Who and what are we continuing to exclude? Where are the hidden and not so hidden places where domination continues? In what ways must theologies of liberation also be liberated? What have been their failures and unfulfilled promises? Most importantly, how can they shape or contribute to a more just world, especially for the voiceless and broken? Submissions are welcome on any connecting theme, including the following areas in dialogue with, or through, liberationist lenses:

  1. Theological concepts, including sin, salvation, redemption, debt, prayer, and Christology.
  2. Religious institutions/structures, including hierarchies, abuses, power, and witnessing or embodying an option for the poor.
  3. Activism and liberation outside religion and academia.
  4. Pedagogies of and for liberation theologies (i.e., reaching the next generation).
  5. Nature: non-human lifeforms.
  6. Indigenous cultures; minoritized cultures.
  7. Buddhism, Candomblé, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Vodun, and so forth.
  8. Interfaith dialogue; religious pluralism; atheism; agnosticism.
  9. Migration; exile; homelessness; landlessness; borders; nations.
  10. Masculinities, feminisms, sex, sexualities, the spectrum of the sexes.
  11. The “isms”: ableism, androcentrism, classism, ethnocentrism, heterosexism, nationalism, racism, sexism, and many more.
  12. The sciences; the cosmos; the planet.
  13. Failures of liberation theologies; abuses of liberation theologies; the hypocrisy of a career in liberation theologies.

This non-exhaustive list is meant to spark ideas. In that light, we ask for proposals of roughly 500–750 words to be submitted to the guest editors by January 15, 2023, so that we can craft an issue with a diversity of perspectives. We want to highlight marginalized perspectives and voices, in particular; hence, if you submit a proposal and do not have institutional funding to cover the open access fees, please let us know. It is important to have a conversation on liberation theologies accessible to a broad audience through an open access journal, and it is also important to ensure that a broad range of people can contribute to this issue. Articles should be between 3000 and 7000 words in length.

Dr. Peter Admirand

Prof. Dr. Thia Cooper

Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • liberation
  • resistance
  • theology
  • exclusion
  • domination