Identity in Jesus' Galilee—From Ethnicity to Locative Intersectionality

Abstract

As the home place of Jesus the question of the identity of Galilee has received symbolic significance. e first part of the essay discusses how the term "ethnicity" with its origin in social anthropology, when used of the identity of Galilee is over determined by religion and continues a traditional description of Galilee as "Jewish." As an alternative the essay introduces an intersectionalist approach that in addition to ethnicity includes i.a. gender, status, disability. e specific contribution of the essay is to add place to the analysis; using gospel narratives as its material it explores how the settings of social relations, whether dominated by the places of power in Galilee or in the local settings of village and households, influence hierarchical relations. e essay suggests that the broader perspectives of an intersectionalist approach destabilises the image of a religiously defined Jewish Galilee.

Intersectionality and kyriarchy: A framework for approaching power and social justice in planning and climate change adaptation

“…The role of space and place in the production and experience of kyriarchy and intersectionality is a significant but under-researched area. Moxnes (2010), a theologian writing about locative intersectionality in Galilee in the time of Jesus, highlights this importance: Social relations and structures always happen in place. Place is a multifaceted category, it is locative and topographical as well as mental and ideological.…”

Autism and Biblical Studies: Establishing and Extending the Field beyond Preliminary Reflection

“…As an insight brought into the practices of biblical studies, intersectionality opens nuanced ways of analyzing the issues of identity and the associated power-relations at work within the texts. Moxnes (2010), for example, uses a "locational intersectionality" to destabilize readings of the gospels that consider the qualities of Galilee to be derived in primarily religious terms, arguing that other elements of identity linked to power would play a more significant role in establishing solidarities and divergences through the region and that much of the evidence has been read without adequate attention to the distributive factors at work. The archaeological evidence for extensive Jewish ritual observance, for example, he considers to have been interpreted too bluntly, failing to take into account its particular connections to wealthier strata and the variegations of religious sensibilities across social contexts.…”

Space, Place and Biblical Studies: A Survey of Recent Research in Light of Developing Trends

“…Moxnes is another scholar who has produced a series of articles and monographs on the topics of place and space (Moxnes 2000, 2001a, 2001b, 2001c, 2003, 2008, 2010a, 2010b, 2010c). He focuses on the region of Galilee and the concept of household.…”

“…Moxnes’s other works are concerned with body, gender and social space (2010a, 2010b, 2010c). As hinted in the summary of the book, Moxnes is also concerned with the families (2008), the construction of Galilee (2001b, c), and the place and landscape of Jesus more generally (2000, 2010a, 2010b, 2010c). Moxnes’s contribution on this subject has been significant and any scholar who wants to interact with this subject needs to be aware of Moxnes’s contribution.…”