The Violence of Poverty: Theology and Activism in an “Age of Austerity”

Shannahan, Chris

doi:10.1080/1462317x.2018.1543820

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Such an approach to coping – combined with perceived limits to the extent of social and political critique and action – has implications for the development of ‘public debate’ and in developing politically-oriented discussion which might form part of a ‘space of encounter’. The diverse arguments of Cloke et al (2017), Allen (2016), Pemberton (2019) and Shannahan (2019) are relevant here in considering the form and parameters of public debate when social practices are suffused by faith-based practice. Shannahan (2019) argues that (religious) faith groups are well placed to challenge the political choices producing the structural violence of poverty.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The diverse arguments of Cloke et al (2017), Allen (2016), Pemberton (2019) and Shannahan (2019) are relevant here in considering the form and parameters of public debate when social practices are suffused by faith-based practice. Shannahan (2019) argues that (religious) faith groups are well placed to challenge the political choices producing the structural violence of poverty. In a close reading of (and with) Gramsci, Slothuus (2021) has considered how a ‘secular-political form of faith’ – as collective affects – should be recognised as a core feature of social transformation (as distinct from ‘rational’, ‘liberal’ interventions).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this context, Allen (2016) has written critically on the importance attached to charitable giving (rather than social change) by privileged church voices, suggesting that food banksas a response to povertyare in keeping with the dominant Christian social tradition in Britain. Such an approach, he asserts, is focused on charity at the expense of 'fellowship' incorporating hospitality and sharing (though see the response of Pemberton (2019) on the potential of foodbank volunteering), while Shannahan (2019) argues for an ongoing consideration of the potential of liberation theology and poverty activism. Given the growth of faith-based food banks, the questions provoked by such Richard Philip Lee, Caroline Coulson and Kate Hackett analyses highlight the need to understand how faith features in the social practices of food bank voluntary work, including the potentially exclusionary effects of the dominance of Christian-based food aid (Power et al, 2017).…”

Section: Faith Practice and ' Suff Us Ion'mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Social Practices of Food Bank Volunteer Work

Lee¹,

Coulson²,

Hackett³

2021

Social Policy and Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The on-going rise in demand experienced by voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) providing emergency food aid has been described as a sign of a social and public health crisis in the UK (Loopstra, 2018; Lambie-Mumford, 2019), compounded since 2020 by the impact of (and responses to) Covid 19 (Power et al., 2020). In this article we adopted a social practice approach to understanding the work of food bank volunteering. We identify how ‘helping others’, ‘deploying coping strategies’ and ‘creating atmospheres’ are key specific (and connected) forms of shared social practice. Further, these practices are sometimes suffused by faith-based practice. The analysis offers insights into how such spaces of care and encounter (Williams et al., 2016; Cloke et al., 2017) function, considers the implications for these distinctive organisational forms (the growth of which has been subject to justified critique) and suggests avenues for future research.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Faith Practice and ' Suff Us Ion'mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Social Practices of Food Bank Volunteer Work

Lee¹,

Coulson²,

Hackett³

2021

Social Policy and Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Gutiérrez extensively discusses the Church's role as a more authentic and radical witness of poverty (cf. Kleeb, 2015;Walatka, 2015;Shannahan, 2019). In Biblical Exegeses, poverty has become a faithful way of imitating the poor Christ.…”

Section: Preferring the Poor And G Gutiérrez' Liberation Theologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Where is the Church in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: Preferring the Poor via G. Gutierrez’ “Liberation” and the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching in the Philippine Setting

Deguma¹,

Deguma²,

Tandag³

et al. 2020

jsp

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In a world where everything seems to be measured in reference to money and economic progress, the problem of poverty becomes an increasingly urgent concern. The experience of poverty is even becoming problematic when the world seemed to be unprepared for times of pandemic. COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the suffering of the poor more than just a health risk, especially in the Philippine setting. In such a situation, people wonder, where is the church? Most critics of the Catholic Church in the Philippines utilized the social media platform in crying out their denunciation to Catholic Church leaders. It is in this context that the paper explores the 'Liberation Theology' of Gustavo Gutiérrez in relation to the Catholic Church's Social Teaching, whether the experience of poverty and crisis is part of the socio-spiritual responsibility of the church. To do this, the paper utilized the exploratory method of textual analysis. Through examining the text of extant literature on Gustavo Gutiérrez's Liberation Theology and the Social Teachings of the Catholic Church, the paper constructed a holistic understanding of "Preferential Option for the Poor." The arguments presented in this paper could serve as the basis for current praxis of the different catholic congregations in the Philippines in mitigating the experience of crisis among Filipino poor amid COVID-19 pandemic.

show abstract

“…There is a growing body of literature in critical social policy engaging with the concept of structural violence (see, for example, Bond & Hallsworth, 2017;Bruck & Garthwaite, 2020;Cooper & Whyte, 2017;Grover, 2019;Pring, 2017;Shannahan, 2019;Shaw, 2019;Wright, Fletcher & Stewart, 2020). The literature explores the links between this type of violence and a prolonged period of austerity in the UK which has seen a profound retrenchment of the public sector and the welfare state, and rising poverty (Shannahan, 2019).…”

Section: Contemporary Literature On Structural Violence Austerity and Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

“Like having a perpetrator on your back”: Violence in the Welfare System

Speake¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This thesis addresses the impact of the contemporary social security system on women living in England and Wales who are victims/survivors of rape and sexual abuse. It uses a triangular conceptualisation of violence, comprising direct, cultural, and structural violence, to explore the experiences of these women and to examine whether the social security system is involved in designing and implementing actions, decisions, practices and processes which are culturally and structurally violent and which prevent the women from meeting their basic needs, or living a “minimally decent life” (Miller, 2007). There were four main findings from this research. First, that the social security system as an institution plays an active role in exacerbating women victims/survivors mental and physical health conditions and is moving women further from recovery. Second, that the social security system is implementing policies which are both based on and involved in producing and reproducing cultural patterns which systematically denigrated the women by misrepresenting and stigmatising their identities, decisions, and actions, that is, the system plays an active role in misrecognising the participants. Third, in their interactions with the social security system, the women continually had their experiences minimised and disbelieved: the social security system as an institution is actively involved in invalidating the women’s accounts of themselves and their lives, often in order to deny them entitlement to support. Fourth, the women’s relationship with the social security system is one frequently characterised by abuse: not only were their prior experiences of abuse mirrored in their interactions with the system, but the interactions were sometimes experienced as abusive in and of themselves. By centreing the experiences of these victims/survivors of sexual violence and their interactions with the social security system, this thesis contributes to critical social policy literature and advances understanding of conditionality within the welfare system, and its impact on a marginalised group of women. It also furthers the scholarship of cultural and structural violence, firstly, by providing empirical evidence about how these phenomena occur in people’s everyday lives and interactions, and secondly, by theorising these experiences as forms of misrecognition and invalidation. Finally, it has provided critical social policy with new conceptual tools to understand the experiences and impacts of the social security system. The findings of this thesis are based on in-depth qualitative interviews, and a small number of written submissions, with 16 women who self-identified as victims/survivors of rape and/or sexual abuse and who had also reported experiencing problems with their benefit claims at some point since 2012. Participants were recruited through a number of different avenues from locations throughout England and Wales. The research was conducted from a critical realist standpoint and drew on feminist principles to inform the ethical approach underpinning the research.

show abstract

The Violence of Poverty: Theology and Activism in an “Age of Austerity”

Abstract: This document is the author's post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.

Cited by 6 publications

References 14 publications

The Social Practices of Food Bank Volunteer Work

The Social Practices of Food Bank Volunteer Work

Where is the Church in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: Preferring the Poor via G. Gutierrez’ “Liberation” and the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching in the Philippine Setting

“Like having a perpetrator on your back”: Violence in the Welfare System

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About