The Spirituality of Small Christian Communities Around the Globe

Kalilombe, P.A.

doi:10.2307/j.ctvpg867t.12

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“…Initially, this movement began as a recognition, in line with Kimberle Crenshaw's insights on "intersectionality", that poverty is exacerbated by other forms of oppression (Crenshaw 1993). Thus, theologians lifted up in an important way the concerns of U.S. Latinos and African Americans (Elizondo 2007;Copeland 2007), women (Aquino 2007;Hilkert 2007;Tamez 2007), LGBTQ persons (Tamez 2007) and peoples in Asia and Africa (Kalilombe 2007;Pieris 2007). But this shift also allowed for a sort of duplicitous movement.…”

Section: Contradictions and Impassesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Poor as Symptom: A Lacanian Reading of the Option for the Poor

Checketts

2023

Religions

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Latin American liberation theology contributed perhaps the most significant theological contribution of the twentieth century in the “preferential option for the poor”. This insight has been an uneasy call to conscience for the magisterial Catholic Church, which has often buttressed the positions of the powerful. However, despite the central significance of this discovery, liberation theologians themselves often betray their own positions by romanticizing the poor, speaking on their behalf, diluting the meaning of poor and other such seeming shortcomings. This article argues that the incongruence regnant in discussions of the preferential option can best be understood through the Lacanian notion of a “symptom”. As “woman is the symptom of man”, the poor are the symptom of the upper classes. In order for nonpoor to understand their own socioeconomic position—including academically trained clergy—they must posit the poor as an Other against whom they understand themselves. As such, reaching “the poor” is an impossibility for anyone who is in a position to truly advocate for them. However, the insight of the preferential option tells us that the impossibility should be pursued nonetheless, with full understanding that it is an impossibility.

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Section: Contradictions and Impassesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Poor as Symptom: A Lacanian Reading of the Option for the Poor

Checketts

2023

Religions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

The Spirituality of Small Christian Communities Around the Globe

Cited by 1 publication

References 0 publications

The Poor as Symptom: A Lacanian Reading of the Option for the Poor

The Poor as Symptom: A Lacanian Reading of the Option for the Poor

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