Beyond Traditional Politics in Post(modern) Crisis: Intercultural Theology as Critical Approach

Dear Colleagues,

In view of the overwhelming global crisis of civilisation, which is manifested not at least in humanity's self-destruction in relation to its habitat, the question of the nature, relevance and significance of intercultural theologies arises once again. What we might call “traditional politics”—that is, the naturalization of modern-centric liberal dynamics, the unrestricted defense of Western anthropology and cosmology, or the eternal struggle between Manichean ideologies—has shown its limitations in addressing contemporary sociopolitical demands, deepening an unprecedented crisis in which anti-democratic voices rise up in defense of war, violence, and exclusion. This “traditional politics” is also backed by a Christian-centric, essentialist, and institutionalist theology that supports these actions in the name of a metaphysics that hegemonicizes and naturalizes these processes. Beyond this (in)human context, theology must find a voice as the critical political voice of humanity in the physicality that connects us all. Not inherent in the system, but coming from a place outside the system and consequently in contact with others, theology must be jointly shaped as a critical approach in the global intercultural context.

Taking into account a variety of critical theories, the critical potential of theological intercultural thinking, speaking and acting should be examined in an interdisciplinary manner. Doing Theology In Between thus makes it possible to open up intercultural spaces after the spatial turn (and others) as productive places of theological knowledge. The polyphony of perspectives makes it possible to outline the glocal critical potential of intercultural theology epistemologically, to increase its political value and to use it to overcome/respond to the crisis of civilisation. In line with the aims and objectives of the journal Religion, the editors of this Special Issue are seeking contributions that are intercultural, interdisciplinary and intersectional in nature, innovatively oriented towards the programmatic title ‘beyond traditional politics’ and critically rethink theology.

This Special Issue aims to receive following thematical fields for submissions:

• Intercultural versus transcultural theology: defining the relationship;
• Epistemological potential of intercultural theologies;
• Political impact of theological and religious discourse;
• Theology and performativity: an intercultural relationship;
• Political and theological aesthetics: spaces of resistance;
• Religion as a global political player.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Intercultural theology, sistematic theology, and practical theology
• religious science (aesthetics of religion);
• The philosophy of religion, cultural science, and political science.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 150-200 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editors, Prof. Dr. Ulrike Sallandt (ulrike.sallandt@uni-oldenburg.de) and Dr. Nicolas Panotto (nicolaspanotto@gmail.com; nicolas.panotto@uni-oldenburg.de), and CC the Assistant Editor of Religions, Ms. Joyce Xi (joyce.xi@mdpi.com), by the end of May. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors, by the end of June, for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Ulrike Sallandt
Dr. Nicolás Panotto
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• intercultural theologies
• critical theories (post-/decolonial, feminist, queer , etc.)
• interdisciplinarity
• intersectionality
• globalization
• crisis of civilization
• cultural turn