Religion, Theology, and Class New Approaches to Religion and Power

Home , Jung Mo Sung, Marxism and religion

Series editor: Joerg Rieger While the relationship of religion and power is a perennial topic, it only contin- ues to grow in importance and scope in our increasingly globalized and diverse world. Religion, on a global scale, has openly joined power struggles, often in support of the powers that be. But at the same time, religion has made major contributions to resistance movements. In this context, current methods in the study of religion and theology have created a deeper awareness of the issue of power: Critical theory, cultural studies, postcolonial theory, subaltern studies, feminist theory, critical race theory, and working class studies are contributing to a new quality of study in the field. This series is a place for both studies of particular problems in the relation of religion and power as well as for more general interpretations of this relation. It undergirds the growing recognition that religion can no longer be studied without the study of power.

S e r i e s e d i t o r : Joerg Rieger is Wendland-Cook Professor of Constructive Th eology in the Perkins School of Th eology at Southern Methodist University.

Titles: No Longer the Same: Religious Others and the Liberation of Christian Th eology David R. Brockman Th e Subject, Capitalism, and Religion: Horizons of Hope in Complex Societies Jung Mo Sung Imaging Religion in Film: Th e Politics of Nostalgia M. Gail Hamner Spaces of Modern Th eology: Geography and Power in Schleiermacher’s World Steven R. Jungkeit Transcending Greedy Money: Interreligious Solidarity for Just Relations Ulrich Duchrow and Franz J. Hinkelammert Foucault, Douglass, Fanon, and Scotus in Dialogue: On Social Construction and Freedom Cynthia R. Nielsen Lenin, Religion, and Th eology Roland Boer In Search of God’s Power in Broken Bodies: A Th eology of Maum Hwa-Young Chong Th e Reemergence of Liberation Th eologies: Models for the Twenty-First Century Edited by Th ia Cooper Religion, Th eology, and Class: Fresh Engagements after Long Silence Edited by Joerg Rieger Religion, Theology, and Class Fresh Engagements after Long Silence

Edited by Joerg Rieger

ISBN 978-1-137-35142-5 ISBN 978-1-137-33924-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137339249

All rights reserved. First published in 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN: 978–1–137–35137–1 (hc) ISBN: 978–1–137–35142–5 (pb) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Religion, theology, and class : fresh engagements after long silence / edited by Joerg Rieger. pages cm

1. Christian sociology. 2. Social classes. I. Rieger, Joerg, editor of compilation. BT738.R447 2013 230.086Ј2—dc23 2013011021 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: November 2013 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

P r e f a c e vii A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s ix L i s t o f C o n t r i b u t o r s xi

Introduction Why Class Matters in Religious Studies and Theology 1 Joerg Rieger

Part I Basic Definitions and Challenges of Class 1 R e l i g i o n a n d C l a s s 2 7 Richard D. Wolff 2 Save Us from Cynicism: Religion and Social Class 43 Jung Mo Sung 3 Class, Sin, and the Displaced 61 V í t o r W e s t h e l l e

Part II Understanding Class in Historical Contexts 4 The Theological Value of Social Class Analysis and O t h e r S o c i a l D i s t i n c t i o n s 7 7 N é s t o r O . M í g u e z 5 Religion and Class in the Construction and Deconstruction of the Myth of American Exceptionalism 99 S h e i l a D . C o l l i n s 6 Protesting Classes through Protestant Glasses: Class, Labor, and the Social Gospel in the United States 121 Ken Estey vi ● Contents

Part III Class in Relation to Poverty, Gender, Race, and Ethnicity 7 Poverty and Poor People’s Agency in High-Tech Capitalism 143 Jan Rehmann 8 Inequality, Class, and Power in Global Perspective: Feminist Reflections 157 P a m e l a K . B r u b a k e r 9 Black Reconstruction: Thinking Blackness and Rethinking Class in Late Capitalist America 175 Corey D. B. Walker 10 Instigating Class Struggle? The Study of Class in Religion and Theology and Some Implications for Gender, Race, and Ethnicity 189 Joerg Rieger

Index 2 1 3 Preface

eligion, theology, and class are much more closely related than is commonly recognized. It is this association that the chapters in this book R highlight in their own ways. What is most surprising, perhaps, is not that this relation exists but how rarely it has been accounted for in the work that we do as scholars of religion, theology, economics, politics, history, and many other fields. As tensions are mounting everywhere along the lines of class— symptomatically expressed by the Occupy Wall Street movement’s notion of the 1 percent and the 99 percent, which affects the very fabric of society including the academy—the realities of class can and need to be addressed in new and fruitful ways. This book is, therefore, an invitation to our readers to join us in taking another look at the tensions that mark our age, beginning with a deeper understanding of class. Although matters of class may be even more controversial than matters of theology and religion, the authors of this book share in some fun- damental agreements. Traveling on different paths, all of us have come to the conclusion that class cannot be understood in terms of social or income stratification—the two most common paradigms in the Western academy and in popular discourse. Instead, class needs to be seen, we argue, in terms of relations between classes, which include tensions and conflicts, factors that are usually neglected by theories of stratification. This means that class is not just a matter of wealth but also of power. Moreover, and this comes as another surprise, class is not merely a matter of distribution of resources but, more importantly, a matter of production and work and how production is valued. The deeper understanding of class presented in this volume is aimed at pro- ducing a deeper understanding of religion and theology. Awareness of class relations and tensions adds an important item to the toolbox of critical reflection in the study of religion and theology as well as many other fields that cannot be explored here. This may be especially important for white men, who are not encouraged to think critically about relationships of power and who thus often feel they have only themselves to blame when things go wrong. In this volume, we will show how women, racial, and ethnic minorities can also learn from reflections of class, but they have the advantage that they are often already attuned to the need to reflect on relationships of power. viii ● Preface

Religion is inextricably connected to matters of class. This reality, devel- oped in the chapters of this book, broadens the various definitions of what religion is. Religion is always intertwined with real life in the broadest sense, as those who refuse to understand religion as matters of ideas, mind games, or as private and individual affairs know. Contemporary scholars of religion who are aware that religion is a matter of practices rather than of mere ideas should have no trouble understanding the communal—and, therefore social, political, and economic—character of practices. The notion of class broadens these approaches further because it provides fresh insights into the all-pervasiveness of power that shapes us all the way to the core, for good or for ill. Theology also gains from a reflection on matters of class. In the Abrahamic religions, for instance, there are a substantial number of ancient traditions that find the divine at work in the midst of tensions between classes, frequently taking the sides of the class that is oppressed. There is a common thread, accord- ing to which God supports the Hebrew slaves in Egypt, the Jewish tribes exiled by the Babylonian Empire, and the “least of these” in the times of Jesus. Even theological themes like election and justification, central themes of the Pauline corpus, identify God in terms related to notions of class and the corresponding tensions. 1 For most of its history, theology has found it difficult to interpret these traditions, which explains why they were commonly ignored despite their ubiquitous presence in the sacred texts. A closer look at class will, therefore, not merely add an interesting facet but might help us understand and pursue more adequately what is at the heart of so many of our traditions. The Abrahamic traditions are, of course, merely one example, represented by the authors of this book. It is our sincere hope that this approach will prove useful for the theological work of many other religious traditions as well. As editor of this book I am hopeful that the tide is beginning to turn on matters of religion, theology, and class. Joerg Rieger August 2013

Note 1 . “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:27–29). Acknowledgments

any individuals and communities have supported our work in this book. The Theology and Religious Reflection Section of the M American Academy of Religion sponsored a session on Rethinking Class in Religious and Theological Studies in 2010, where the seed to write this book was sown. We thank the colleagues in attendance, many of whom were just as struck as we were about the absence of the topic of class from our work, for their important questions and suggestions. We also thank our colleagues, students, and communities (academic, intel- lectual, political, religious), who have engaged us and helped us to think more clearly about the topic at hand. A special word of thanks goes to Emily Everett, who translated the chapters by N é stor M í guez and Jung Mo Sung, with support from a community of others. Joerg Rieger’s research assistants Spencer Bogle, graduate student in theology, Timothy McGee, graduate student in theology, and Á ngel Gallardo, graduate student in religion and culture, all made important contributions dur- ing the editing process. Haley Feuerbacher, graduate student in religion and culture, compiled the index and provided support for proofreading. An earlier version of chapter 10 appeared as “Religion and Class Struggle: Transformations in Progressive Theology in the United States and Some Implications for Race and Gender,” Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion 1:5 (May 2010): 1–26, and may be accessed at www.raceandreligion.com. Copyright Sopher Press, used by permission. This page intentionally left blank Contributors

Pamela K. Brubaker is Professor Emerita of Religion and Ethics at California Lutheran University. Her books include Globalization at What Price? Economic Change and Daily Life (Pilgrim Press, 2007), Justice not Greed, coedited with Rogate Mshana (WCC, 2010), and Justice in a Global Economy: Strategies for Home, Community, and World, coedited with Rebecca Todd Peters and Laura Stivers (Westminster/John Knox Press, 2006). Brubaker participated in World Council of Churches programs on the global economy (2002–2013). She is on the Advisory Board of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice in Ventura County. Her PhD is in Christian social ethics, Union Theological Seminary (NYC). Sheila D. Collins is Professor of Political Science Emerita, William Paterson University and former director of its graduate program in Public Policy and International Affairs. She cochairs the Columbia University Seminar on Full Employment, Social Welfare, and Equity and the seminar on Globalization, Labor, and Popular Struggles, serves on the International Advisory Board of the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Studies, and is a member of the Global Ecological Integrity Group. She is the author or coauthor of six books and numerous book chapters and articles on politics and religion, public policy, political economy, social movements, and environmental ethics. Ken Estey is Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College, CUNY (City University of New York), Department of Political Science and Coordinator of its Studies in Religion Program. Author of A New Protestant Labor Ethic at Work (Pilgrim Press, 2002), his research focuses on the intersection of labor and religion, particularly among Protestant evangelicals in the United States, the subject of a forthcoming book. N é stor O. M í guez , doctor in Theology (New Testament) and postgradu- ate studies in Social and Political Anthropology, is Professor at the Instituto Universitario ISEDET in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the areas of New Testament and Systematic Theology. He has taught and lectured internationally in many universities, associations, and theological schools. He is the former president of the Forum for Ecumenical Theological Education of Latin xii ● Contributors

America and the Caribbean and the president of the Argentinian Federation of Evangelical Churches. Among his recent books are The Practice of Hope (Fortress Press, 2012), Jesú s del Pueblo (Kairó s/Red del Camino, 2011), and Beyond the Spirit of the Empire, coauthored with Joerg Rieger and Jung Mo Sung (SCM Press, 2009). Joerg Rieger is Wendland-Cook Professor of Constructive Theology at Perkins School of Theology, SMU. His work seeks to bring together theology and the struggles for justice and liberation that mark our age. He is the author of numerous books, among them, Occupy Religion: Theology of the Multitude , coauthored with Kwok Pui-lan (Rowman and Littlefield, 2012), Traveling (Fortress Press, 2011), Globalization and Theology, Horizons in Theology (Abingdon Press, 2010), No Rising Tide: Theology, Economics, and the Future (Fortress Press, 2009), Beyond the Spirit of Empire: Theology and Politics in a New Key, Reclaiming Liberation Theology, coauthored with Jung Mo Sung and Né stor Mí guez (SCM Press, 2009), and Christ and Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times (Fortress Press, 2007). Rieger lectures nationally and internationally. He is on the steering committee of Jobs with Justice in North Texas and is cofounder of the Workers’ Rights Board in the Dallas area. Jan Rehmann , Dr. phil., habil., teaches social theories at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and philosophy at the Free University in Berlin. He is coeditor of the Historical-Critical Dictionary of Marxism (HKWM) and has published monographs on theories of ideology, postmodernist Neo- Nietzscheanism, Max Weber’s theory of modernization, Pedagogy of the Poor, the Churches in Nazi Germany. He has also published essays on Ernst Bloch, Antonio Gramsci, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sloterdijk, Marxism and religion, capitalism and poverty, hope, faith, charisma, and Calvinism. J u n g M o S u n g is Professor in the Graduate Program in Religious Studies and Dean of the School of Humanities and the Law School at the Universidade Metodista of S ã o Paulo, Brazil. He was born in South Korea, studied Business Administration, Philosophy and Theology, earned Masters degree in Ethical Theology (Nossa Senhora da Assun çã o Theological Seminary, in S ã o Paulo), doctoral degree in Religious Studies (Methodist University of S ã o Paulo) and did postdoctoral studies in education (Methodist University of Piracicaba, in Brazil). He is the author of seventeen books, among them, Desire, Market and Religion, Reclaiming Liberation Theology (SCM Press, 2007); Subject, Capitalism, and Religion: Horizons of Power in Complex Societies , trans. Peter Jones, New Approaches to Religion and Power (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011); and Beyond the Spirit of the Empire: Theology and Politics in a New Key, Reclaiming Liberation Theology, coauthored with Joerg Rieger and N é stor M í guez (SCM Press, 2009). Corey D. B. Walker is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and John W. and Anna Hodgin Hanes Professor of the Humanities at Winston-Salem State University. His research revolves around a series of critical investiga- tions into the historical, philosophical, and theological problems of modern Contributors ● xiii thought and political practice. He is author of A Noble Fight: African American Freemasonry and the Struggle for Democracy in America (University of Illinois Press, 2008) and has recently completed Between Transcendence and History: An Essay on Religion and the Future of Democracy in America. He recently served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion , the top academic journal for the study of religion. V í tor Westhelle is Professor of Systematic Theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and the Chair of Luther Research at Faculdades EST, Sã o Leopoldo, Brazil. He is also Honorary Professor of Theology at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. Westhelle lectures and consults globally and is the author/ editor of several books, including the recent Eschatology and Space: The Lost Dimension in Theology Past and Present (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2012). R i c h a r d D . W o l f f is Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Visiting Professor at the New School University in New York. With frequent coauthor Stephen Resnick, he has published many books and articles on alternative economic theories and economic history. Their latest book is Contending Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian and Marxian (MIT Press, 2012). Wolff’s recent work (books, articles, speeches, and interviews) critically analyzes capitalism’s severe global crisis since 2007. These can be found at rdwolff.com and democracyatwork.info.