Journal for the Hispanic Theological Initiative
Perspectivas is the online peer-reviewed bilingual
subscription journal of the Hispanic Theological Initiative
| Spring 2017
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Spring 2017
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Spring 2017
- Abstract:
In an effort to continue its rich tradition of offering the Latina/o theological community a space for Latina/o thinkers in theology and religion to contribute to—and even begin— important scholarly conversations, our editorial team is proud to present the Spring 2017 issue of Perspectivas. We hope our readers will find this a valuable resource to foster critical and creative conversations in various religious and theological communities.
Read More / Download IssueIn the current issue of Perspectivas, our contributors draw on various fields of Latina/o, Latin American studies, and critical theoretical currents to address issues that readers will find especially relevant for our current political and social climate. The essays included cover a range of themes, from introducing readers to fascinating theological insights such as a Cuban theology of the “absurd,” to the import of “Abuelita Theology” for César Chávez’s social activism. As the reader will soon discover, the questions raised in these articles are timelier than ever: How do Latina/o communities reimagine and reclaim the concept of citizenship when the dominant society denies them this very title, along with the rights, privileges, and opportunities that come with it? What can the Young Lords Party teach us about radical activism and Latina/o religious history? How do the insights and practices of fringe and marginalized communities undermine the theoretical premises and promises of multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism? In the process of navigating and thinking about these complex social justice issues, our readers are also invited by one contributor to ask: Just how queer is the messianic spirit of Marx and Marxism? And finally: How can a Pentecostal prophetess help liberate patriarchal conceptions of church leadership and domesticity?
The present collection of essays demonstrates a commitment to nuanced and imaginative thinking about the Latina/o experience that is engaging, thought-provoking, and grounded in real life issues pertaining to Latina/o (USA and Canada), Latin American, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean communities. The essays combine a scholarly commitment to broadening, complicating, and illuminating the lived faith experiences of these communities, with an approach that is accessible to wide and diverse audiences.
The first set of essays below focus on activism, community organizing, and social movements. Ofelia Ortega, in a paper originally presented at the 9th Annual Herencia Lectures, “A Past and Present Look at Protestant Cuban Theology,” at Princeton Theological Seminary, in September 2016, focuses on the development of protestant theology during Cuba’s revolutionary period. As part of her lecture, which was delivered in honor of Sergio Arce Martínez, Ortega outlines the primary cultural, political, and religious influences of the period as well some key theological themes that resulted from this period. Among these include practices of love, presence, and participation; re-imagining ecclesiology, evangelism, and mission; theological engagement with culture, economy, and peace & reconciliation movements; and innovative theologies of the “desert” and the “absurd.” A key final theme, Ortega shows, is the crucial role that women’s perspectives played in the formation and development of Protestant Cuban theology.
Robert Chao Romero explores the Christian spirituality and commitment of the famed Chicano civil rights leader César Chávez in his contribution, “The Spiritual Praxis of César Chávez.” Chávez’s influences, Romero demonstrates, ranged from “Abuelita theology” and Roman Catholic social teaching to various community based principles about social organizing. Romero argues that although our historical memory indicates otherwise, much of Chávez’s activist effort were deeply rooted in his Christian spirituality. The great march from the Central Valley to Sacramento, for example, drew explicitly from theological traditions of penitence and pilgrimage. Moreover, according to Romero, Chávez saw fasting and prayer as essential practices to the grape strike and the broader farm worker struggle. Romero makes sure to complicate Chavez’s legacy, illuminating how the later Chavez faced a “spiritual decentering” that pulled him away from his activism’s humble theological roots. At the end, Romero challenges those who attempt to secularize Chávez’s life and vision. “They take the ‘Rev.’ away from King,” Romero writes, “and the ‘abuelita theology’ away from Chávez.”
In his “The Faith of Saints and Citizens in Public Spaces,” Jonathan Calvillo draws on his five years of ethnographic research in Santa Ana, California, to examine the intersections of religious affiliation and ethnic identity among various Latina/o communities. Calvillo shows how communal religious practices performed in public spaces pushed against the boundaries of citizenship, especially among undocumented residents and those who have experienced various forms of educational segregation and limited economic opportunity. In the midst of societal exclusion and marginalization, these Latina/o faith communities, Calvillo argues, used some acts of public faith as acts of resistance, providing creative alternatives to ground their local citizenship.
Elías Ortega-Aponte invites readers to consider the critical import of studying Brown Power Movements for the field of Latina/o religious history. By focusing particularly on the Young Lords Party, Ortega-Aponte addresses the dangers of leaving non-religious social movement histories relatively unexplored in Latina/o Religious Studies. His argument is best read as an invitation for scholars in this field to take up “the task of analyzing religious Latino/a social movements and their contributions to Latino/ religiosity” while also highlighting the rich contributions of those seeking “to theorize la lucha as lived by secular Latino/a Activism.” Ultimately, Ortega-Aponte illuminates the many insights that can be gained from engaging with organizations that are highly critical of Latina/o religious institutions.
Our issue then takes a strong theoretical turn, broadening the discussions and yet calling for more specific, local, on-the-ground analyses, which are engaged in the following section. In his essay, “Is Liberation Theology a Political Theology?: Marcella Althaus-Reid’s Critical Hermeneutics and the Queer Messianic Question of Marxism,” Silas Morgan reveals a tension existing within the rising field of political theology, namely that its “Eurocentricity presents a problem for Latin American liberation theologies that are eager to escape the colonial clutches of the continent, that are looking for ways to recapture their indigenous vitality.” To address a way forward for Latin American theologians, Morgan encourages us to draw on the work of Marcella Althaus-Reid, who draws on Paul Ricoeur to imagine a queer messianic politics “that is as Christological as it is Marxist.” By situating Althaus-Reid in this way, Morgan invites the reader to position Latin American liberation theology as a political theology, one that both welcomes the rebirth of Marx yet also departs from methodologies of the contemporary European left.
Néstor Medina, in his article, “Latinas/os, Canada and Cosmopolitanism: A Look from its Exteriority,” interrogates traditional discourses around ideas of multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism and puts forth a broader evaluation of both ideas that “is only possible from its fringes, its exteriority.” Focusing on the Canadian practice of multiculturalism as his case study, Medina centers his analysis on the Latina/o experiences of systemic discrimination and marginalization. “Latinas/os should be understood not as haphazardly adopting-mixing cultural elements,” he writes, “but as immersed in an intentional process of simultaneous negotiation, disturbance, and interruption of conventional cultural grammars while remaining anchored in their cultural traditions, values, and customs: a cultural syncopation.” Medina concludes by highlighting ways in which communities of faith can play a pivotal role in imagining new and safer ways for people to live together, embrace each other’s cultures, and to encounter God.
The last written piece of this issue responds to the need for a more local on-the-ground analysis. In his “Profeta Ana Maldonado: Pushing the Boundaries of Paradoxical Domesticity,” Tito Madrazo introduces readers to the Pentecostal prophetess’ liberative vision imagined and practiced within a traditionally patriarchal space. While Madrazo describes Maldonado as adhering to a complementarian approach of church leadership, he rejects it as a passive acceptance or submission to patriarchy. Rather, Madrazo argues, Maldonado’s “paradoxical domesticity” serves an empowering role for female ministers. In addition, he demonstrates how domesticity plays a fundamental role in how her community interprets and conceives of the cobertura, or covering. Madrazo ultimately highlights Maldonado as one of many spiritual intellectuals and visionaries within Latina Pentecostalism who have both wrestled with and resisted various religious hierarchies designed to privilege some voices over others.
– Roberto Sirvent
Resumen:En un esfuerzo de continuar su rica tradición de ofrecer a la comunidad teológica Latina/o un espacio para pensadoras/es Latinas/os en teología y religión para contribuir a—y aun comenzar—conversaciones escolásticas importantes, nuestro equipo editorial se siente orgulloso de presentar el ejemplar de primavera 2017 de Perspectivas.
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplarEsperamos que nuestras/os lectoras/es lo encuentren ser una valiosa fuente para fomentar conversaciones críticas y creativas en varias comunidades religiosas y teológicas.
Abstract:There are several very important aspects in the development of a Cuban Protestant theology in Cuba. We might be surprised by the different names from the multicolored cultures that, since 1514, have contributed to our real Cuban theology emerging from many contextual situations of inconformity and protest. They are the precursors of Cuban Christian thought today.
Read More / Download IssueIn the present situation, the growth of the churches in Cuba has been a surprise, not only for the remnant churches in Cuba but for the Cuban government as well. The Holy Spirit could be very subversive, surprising us in our life of faith and testimony. The transformation of our theological reflection guides us to develop main theological emphases that enrich our ecclesiology and our pastoral praxis.
[Article Available in English Only]
Resumen:Existen varios aspectos importantes en el desarrollo de una teología protestante en Cuba. Pudiéramos quedarnos sorprendidos con los distintos nombres que provienen de las culturas multicolores que desde el año 1514, han contribuido a nuestra verdadera teología cubana que surgen de muchas situaciones contextuales de inconformidad y protesta.
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplarEllas son las precursoras del pensamiento cristiano cubano de hoy. En la situación actual, el avance de las iglesias en Cuba ha sido sorprendente, no solamente para las iglesias remanentes en Cuba sino también para el gobierno cubano. El Espíritu Santo puede ser muy subversivo, sorprendiéndonos en nuestra vida de fe y testimonio. La transformación de nuestra reflexión teológica nos guía a desarrollar énfasis teológicos principales que enriquecen nuestra eclesiología y nuestra praxis pastoral.
[Artículo disponible sólamente en inglés]
Abstract:Although César Chávez is revered as the most highly-regarded Latina/o civil rights icon of the 1960’s, most scholars and activists overlook the profound role played by Christian spirituality in his personal life and the broader farm workers movement. This essay explores
Read More / Download Issuethe spiritual formation and praxis of famed Chicano civil rights leader César Chávez during the famous grape strike of 1965-1970. Chávez fused popular Mexican religious symbols and practices such as La Virgen de Guadalupe, “peregrinación” (pilgrimage), and fasting, with Catholic social teaching, leading to the first successful unionization of farm workers in United States history.
Resumen:Aunque César Chávez es venerado como el más altamente reconocido icono de derechos civiles latinos de los 1960’s, la mayoría de estudiosos e activistas pasan por alto el papel profundo que jugó la espiritualidad cristiana en su vida personal y, en general, en el movimiento obrero agrícola. Este artículo explora
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplarla formación y praxis espiritual del famoso líder chicano de derechos civiles César Chávez durante la famosa huelga de las uvas del 1965-1970. Chávez fusionó símbolos religiosos populares mexicanos y prácticas, como La Virgen de Guadalupe, peregrinación, y ayuno, con la doctrina social católica, llevando a la primera exitosa sindicalización de obreros agrícolas en la historia de los Estados Unidos.
Abstract:This article argues that public expressions of faith can function as enactments of citizenship among those for whom the status and privileges of formal citizenship are elusive. The concept of substantive citizenship provides a lens for examining how public faith bolsters local belonging. Based on ethnographic research
Read More / Download Issueconducted in Latinx communities in Santa Ana, California, this article highlights the public faith expressions of immigrants and the resulting local benefits. Public faith acts, in a sense, function as forms of resistance, enabling Latinx immigrants to care for their neighborhoods amidst discourses that classify them as unworthy of societal membership.
[Article Available in English Only]
Resumen:Este artículo argumenta que las expresiones públicas de fe pueden funcionar como promulgaciones de ciudadanía entre aquellas/os cuyo estatus y privilegios de ciudadanía formal les son elusivos. El concepto de ciudadanía sustantiva provee una óptica para examinar como fe pública refuerza el sentido de pertenencia local. Basado en investigación etnográfica
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplarconducida en comunidades Latinx en Santa Ana, California, este articulo resalta las expresiones públicas de fe de inmigrantes y los beneficios locales resultantes. Actos de fe pública, en un sentido, funcionan como formas de resistencia, habilitando a inmigrantes Latinx a cuidar de sus vecindarios en medio de discursos que los clasifican como indignos de membresía en la sociedad.
[Artículo disponible sólamente en inglés]
Abstract:In this essay, I argue for the importance of incorporating the study of Latino/a radicalism into the terrain of Latino/a religious history. Latino/a radical groups like the Young Lords/Young Lords Party that critiqued Latino/a religiosity aimed at exposing the gap between the praxis of faith communities and
Read More / Download Issuetheir faith affirmation through the lenses of radical activism. A consideration of Young Lords/Young Lords Party’s engagement with religious institutions can offer insights into to the theorizing of Latino/a religious history from outside the boundaries drawn by religious practices but still, influenced by the ethos of religious community.
[This article was translated into Spanish by Néstor Medina.]
Resumen:En este artículo, yo argumento sobre la importancia de incorporar el estudio del radicalismo latino/a en el terreno de la historia religiosa latino/a. Grupos radicales latinos/as como los Young Lords/Partido Young Lords que criticaban la religiosidad latino/a pretendían exponer la brecha entre la praxis de las comunidades de fe y
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplary sus afirmaciones de fe a través de la perspectiva del activismo radical. Una consideración del compromiso de los Young Lords/Partido Young Lords con las instituciones religiosas puede brindar ideas para la teorización de la historia religiosa latino/a desde afuera de los limites creados por prácticas religiosas, pero aún influenciado por el espíritu de comunidad religiosa.
Abstract:This article takes up the theory and theology of Argentinian theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid in order to explore the relationship between Latin American liberation theology and political theology. In particular,
Read More / Download Issueit traces a messianic Christological trajectory in Althaus-Reid’s work that evinces a distinctive link between her queer Marxist critique of ideology and her “Indecent Theology.”
Resumen:Este ensayo analiza la teoría y teología de la teóloga argentina Marcella Althaus-Reid con el propósito de explorar la relación entre la teología de la liberación latinoamericana y teología política. En particular,
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplartraza una trayectoria cristológica mesiánica en el pensamiento de Althaus-Reid que demuestra un vínculo distintivo entre su crítica Maxista queer de la ideología y su “Teología Indecente.”
Abstract:The adequacy of multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism as labels to describe ethonoculturally plural metropolises is the focus of this paper. It draws from the Canadian social experiment and argues that multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism refer to complex mechanisms of population control and exclusion.
Read More / Download IssueTaking the Latina/o experience as vantage point, the author proposes that the pervasive notion of cosmopolitanism is better understood from the perspective of those that are left outside of its sociopolitical and economic apparatus.
[Article Available in English Only]
Resumen:Lo adecuado del multiculturalismo y cosmopolitismo como rótulos para describir metrópolis etno-culturalmente plurales es el enfoque de este papel. El papel se basa en el experimento social canadiense y argumenta que el multiculturalismo y el cosmopolitismo se refieren a mecanismos complejos
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplarde control y exclusión de la población. Tomando la experiencia Latina/o como punto de vista, el autor propone que la noción predominante del cosmopolitismo se entiende mejor desde la perspectiva de aquellas/os que quedan afuera de su aparato sociopolítico y económico.
[Artículo disponible sólamente en inglés]
Abstract:This article analyzes the concept of “paradoxical domesticity” at work in the life and ministry of la profeta Ana Maldonado. Paradoxical domesticity has been defined by Gastón Espinosa as a phenomenon in which Latina ministers are required to be bold evangelists and submissive housewives in equal measure.
Read More / Download IssueA close examination of Maldonado’s rhetoric, however, reveals that she is not merely the byproduct of a particular ethnic and religious movement. Within a world of “paradoxical domesticity,” Ana Maldonado preserves and creates space for herself and other women through her example, rhetoric, and supernatural imagination.
[Article Available in English Only]
Resumen:Este artículo analiza el concepto de “domesticidad paradójica” que opera en la vida y ministerio de la profeta Ana Maldonado. La domesticidad paradójica ha sido definida por Gastón Espinosa como un fenómeno en el cual a las ministras Latinas se les requiere que sean evangelistas audaces y, de la misma manera, amas de casa sumisas.
Leer Mas / Descargar este ejemplarSin embargo, un análisis profundo de la retórica de Maldonado revela que ella no es sencillamente un derivado de un movimiento étnico y religioso. En medio de un mundo de “domesticidad paradójica,” Ana Maldonado preserva y crea un espacio para ella misma y para otras mujeres a través de su ejemplo, retorica, e imaginación sobrenatural.
[Artículo disponible sólamente en inglés]