Solidarity Ethics

Transformation in a Globalized World

Rebecca Todd Peters

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9781451465587
• eBook ISBN:
  9781451469875
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Rebecca Todd Peters argues for an ethic of solidarity as a new model for how people of faith in the first world can live with integrity in the midst of global injustice and shape a more just future.

Addressing the economic and social structures of our globalized context, Peters shows how a concrete ethics rooted in the Christian tradition of justice and transformation is deeply informed by solidarity and relationality. Utilizing these theologically rich resources, an ethics of relational reflection, action, and construction is provided as an avenue for building viable strategies for social transformation.

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Index

Abu Ghraib, 35

accountability, described, 64–65. See also privilege and accountability

accountability and wellbeing of all, 115

action, importance of, 94

action, task of, 65–67

actions, campaigns, relief efforts, 30

Adam and Eve, 54, 67n5

agapē, 24, 44, 64

agriculture, community-supported, 100

Alexander, Michelle, 77

aloneness, God’s plan and, 54

altruism, 101

ambiguity, moral, 35

Americans with Disabilities Act, 79

Amoateng, Alice, 98

Anathoth Community Garden, 107–8

Appiah, Kwame, 11

authority and solidarity, use of, 60–61

aversive racism, 80–81

axioms, middle, 49–50

Babylonian exile and return, 83–85

Bahnson, Fred, 107

banks, community, 97

bargain shopping, 96

barter economies, 102

base Christian communities (BCC), 27–28

behavior, personal, 2, 94

belief systems, understanding different, 62

beneficiaries of the status quo, 63, 114

Bible on charity, the, 43

Bible on slavery, the, 76

big-box retailers, power of, 39, 96–97

biodynamic farming, 112

blacks/slaves, nature of, 77

blessings and privilege, 38, 45, 113

Boff, Leonardo, 27

brotherhood, 17–19, 62

Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), 103

buying power, 39

campaigns, relief efforts, actions, 30

Cannon, Katie, 76

capitalism: assumptions of, 112; emergence of, 4, 22; human nature and, 55; oppression and poverty, 23, 29; policies that protect, 87; Pope Jon Paul II on, 26; solidarity and, 22

Catholic Church, Roman, 24–27, 75–76

causes of social problems, root, xiv

Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, 105–9

CEO incomes, 87

change, capacity for, 46

change, engaging in structural social, 11–12

change, foundations for, 2

change of moral habits, 34

charity: Biblical responses and, 43; disasters responses and call for, 42–43; mutuality and, 41; social justice vs., xi, 11–12, 25–26, 44–46, 58–59, 116

cheap products, 96

China and India, development of, 56

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, 79

Christian imperialism and economic prosperity, 75–76

Christian Socialist movement, 24

Christianity, foundation of, 118

Christians, poverty and response of, xiii–xiv

Christians and brotherhood, 17–19

Christians and how to live faithfully in the world, 12–13

church of the poor, 27

churches: globalization and involvement of, 113–14; isolation of, 64; micro-credit lending, 97–98; moral education and, 12; relationships between churches, 109; responses to Industrial Revolution, 24; responsible investments by, 96

civil rights laws, 79

class, race, gender, 38–39, 70–71

class in ancient Israel, 58

climate change, 6–7, 44, 55–57, 81

co-ops, worker, 100

Cold War, political divisions of, 26

collective economies, 102

collectivism, Marxist, 26

colonial patterns of superiority, 76

colonies of North America, 75

colorblindness in the U.S.A., 77

comfort vs. service, a life of, 114

common good, 26

communism, 23, 99

communities of justice, 61

communities of solidarity, creating, 104–9

community banks, 97

community gardens, 107

community investing, 97

compassion and economic theories, 7–8

complicity, personal, 2, 8–10, 85–86, 88, 114, 116, 119

Comte, Auguste, 20, 24

Conference of Latin American Bishops, 27

conflict transformation and religion, 12

conquest theology, 75

consumer behavior, 1–2, 56, 65–66, 94–95

consumer economies and cultures, 87

consumerism, lure of, 112

consumption of resources, 1, 55

context and individual responsibility, 61

continuum of solidarity, 33

control, relinquishing, 118

cooperative businesses, 102

Council of Nicea, 18

creation, solidarity ethic and God’s, 41, 57, 115, 117

creation stories, 54, 67n5

critical social theory, 10–11, 15n19

currencies, local, 100

Davis, David Brion, 77

decision making, gender differences in, 55

decision making, moral, 94

democracy, solidarity and social, 23

development of the “third” world, 3–5

Deysi, story of, xi–xii

differences: building relationships across, 11, 83, 89, 115; honoring, 29, 62–64; maintenance of, 63; sacred and, the, 53; transformation and understanding, 60

disadvantage as individual inadequacies, 73

disasters, responses to, 42–43

discount stores, 96

divine, ultimate reality of the, 53

divine and humankind, relationship between, 54–55

Dovidio, John, 80

Dube, Musa, 65

Durkheim, Émile, 20–21, 24

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise for Solidarity Ethics
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table Of Contents
• Preface: Seeing with New Eyes
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: The Problem of Globalization
• Theories of Solidarity
• Foundations for Transformation
• A Theo-Ethics of Solidarity
• Moving Toward Solidarity
• Embodying Solidarity, Living into Justice
• Conclusion: Hope for Tomorrow
• Bibliography
• Index