Transcending Greedy Money

Abstract

While the relationship of religion and power is a perennial topic, it only continues 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.

Rebelión y subjetividad en el pensamiento de Franz Hinkelammert

“…Para Hinkelammert, la supervivencia de la humanidad se ha transformado en un asunto ético, puesto que la ética en el capitalismo global se ha reducido a juicios de valor y a un relativismo que supone que lo ético es una simple decoración de la vida y, en consecuencia, esta forma de vivir y actuar en el mundo conlleva la destrucción de la vida. En otras palabras, la acción racional provoca que la vida pierda su sentido, al considerar la vida misma como una oportunidad de costos o cálculo de utilidad para obtener un beneficio (Duchrow y Hinkelammert, 2003).…”

“…Así pues, el cálculo de utilidad presupone la ética de la buena vida, en la cual, el ser humano tiene control de sus necesidades básicas y suntuarias y las satisface, sin percatarse que inexorablemente está acabando en forma paulatina con los recursos naturales o artificiales que le provee esa lógica de satisfacción. En otras palabras, aquello que no es prohibido es legal y, en consecuencia, dispuesto para el valor de uso mediante el cálculo de la utilidad en su accionar racional (Duchrow y Hinkelammert, 2003).…”

Engaging God's Mission and Diakonia in Life of Public Spheres: Justification and Economic Justice

“…The owners of capital create a bubble in the financial markets by various kinds of speculation in order to drive up the desire for profit through a so-called Casino-Capitalism. 61 …”

The Problem of Wealth

“…All economic activities, therefore, [must] have commons as reference point." 40 We are living in a time when we need to uproot anthropocentric theologies focusing only on human need and then to plant creation-centered theologies that will enable the whole community of living organisms to flourish. From this rich theological humus, alternative sustainable models for wealth creation can receive the nutrients needed to take root and grow, and the creation itself can be calculated in the ecological cost of production.…”

“…There are 35 alternative banks in Europe that cooperate in the International Association of Social Finance Organisations (INAISE). 48 These ventures offer just a few examples but provide evidence that alternative cooperative frameworks are both possible and real.…”