Liberation theology is widely referred to in discussions of politics and religion but not always adequately understood. The second edition of this Companion brings the story of the movement's continuing importance and impact up to date. Additional essays, which complement those in the original edition, expand upon the issues by dealing with gender and sexuality and the important matter of epistemology. In the light of a more conservative ethos in Roman Catholicism, and in theology generally, liberation theology is often said to have been an intellectual movement tied to a particular period of ecumenical and political theology. These essays indicate its continuing importance in different contexts and enable readers to locate its distinctive intellectual ethos within the evolving contextual and cultural concerns of theology and religious studies. This book will be of interest to students of theology as well as to sociologists, political theorists and historians.
Foreword to the second edition Christopher Rowland; Introduction: the theology of liberation Christopher Rowland; Part I. Contemporary Liberation Theology: 1. The task and content of liberation theology G. Gutierrez translated by Judith Condor; 2. The praxis-based epistemology of liberation theology Zöe Bennett; 3. Liberation theology in Asia Bastiaan Wielenga; 4. Black theology Edward Antonio; 5. Feminist theology: a critical theory of liberation Mary Grey; 6. Demythologising liberation theology: reflections on power, poverty and sexuality Marcella Maria Althaus-Reid; Part II. Aspects of Liberation Theology: 7. The origins and character of the base ecclesial community: a Brazilian perspective Andrew Dawson; 8. The Bible and the poor: a new way of doing theology Gerald West; 9. Liberation and reconstruction: the unfinished agenda Charles Villa-Vicencio; Part III. Analysis and Criticism: 10. Liberation theology and the Roman Catholic Church Peter Hebblethwaite; 11. Marxism, liberation theology and the way of negation Denys Turner; 12. The economics of liberation theology Valpy Fitzgerald; 13. Political theology, tradition and modernity Oliver O'Donovan; 14. Globalizing liberation theology: the American context, and coda Ivan Petrella.
