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Accepted Paper:
The Charism of the Christian Left: Dissidence as Habit in a time of Bi-polar Theo-politics
Neena Mahadev
(Yale-NUS College)
Paper short abstract:
Through ethnography of recent dissent by Catholic and Protestant activists, and through a partial reading of the postcolonial archive of contributors to contextually-grounded Liberation Theology, I explore the theo-politics of grace that fuels the habits and habitus of Sri Lanka's ecumenical left.
Paper long abstract:
Through ethnography of recent peaceful dissent spearheaded by Catholic and Protestant activists, and through a partial reading of the postcolonial archive of contributors to contextually-grounded Liberation Theology, I explore the theo-politics of grace that fuels the habits and habitus of Sri Lanka's ecumenical left. Pluralistic and indigenized forms of Christianity emerged in the era of decolonisation and nationalisation, and were further emboldened by Vatican II. Distinguishing ecumenical Christian pluralism from evangelical Christian expansion in the region, I analyze how political economic bi-polarities inhere in Sri Lanka's Christianities. In drawing out these contrasts, and by examining where left pluralism stood within the convulsive era of class and ethnic-based insurrections, I parse out the "catholicity," civic nationalism, and even post-nationalist self-conceptions that grace Sri Lanka's ecumenical Christian left.