Economy, Difference, Empire: Social Ethics for Social Justice

Front Cover
Columbia University Press, 2010 - Philosophy - 500 pages

Sourcing the major traditions of progressive Christian social ethics--social gospel liberalism, Niebuhrian realism, and liberation theology--Gary Dorrien argues for the social-ethical necessity of social justice politics. In carefully reasoned essays, he focuses on three subjects: the ethics and politics of economic justice, racial and gender justice, and antimilitarism, making a constructive case for economic democracy, along with a liberationist understanding of racial and gender justice and an anti-imperial form of liberal internationalism.

In Dorrien's view, the three major discourse traditions of progressive Christian social ethics share a fundamental commitment to transform the structures of society in the direction of social justice. His reflections on these topics feature innovative analyses of major figures, such as Walter Rauschenbusch, Reinhold Niebuhr, James Burnham, Norman Thomas, and Michael Harrington, and an extensive engagement with contemporary intellectuals, such as Rosemary R. Ruether, Katie Cannon, Gregory Baum, and Cornel West. Dorrien also weaves his personal experiences into his narrative, especially his involvement in social justice movements. He includes a special chapter on the 2008 presidential campaign and the historic candidacy of Barack Obama.

 

Contents

Reinhold Niebuhr Karl Barth
29
Christian Realism as Theology Social
46
Reinhold Niebuhr Billy Graham Modernity
66
Economic Democracy in Question
85
Michael Harrington and the Left Wing of the Possible
111
Christian Socialism as Tradition and Problem
133
Globalization TurboCapitalism
143
Rethinking and Renewing Economic Democracy
168
American Exceptionalism and the Community
259
Social Ethics and the Politics of Difference
287
Cornel West as Social Critic
304
Katie Cannon and Womanist Ethics
336
Catholicism Protestantism
349
The Obama Phenomenon and Presidency
367
History Method
392
Notes
411

American Power and
187
Neoconservatism and the Iraq War
214
The Iraq Debacle and the Crisis
240

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2010)

Gary Dorrien is the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and professor of religion at Columbia University. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including most recently the three-volume The Making of Liberal Theology and Social Ethics in the Making: Interpreting an American Tradition.