Abstract of
Secular Christian Cultural Dominance:
Reflections on its History And Present Effects
by Richard Shapiro
How is the secular, in concept and practice, linked to legacies of
Christian religious dominance? How is this often unmarked dominance
alive in progressive communities and social movements. In excavating
the effects of this dominance, as it impacts our self- understandings,
bodies, political analysis, ethics and truths, how might we enhance
our capacities to build alliances for justice, environmental
sustainability, and cultural diversity? This presentation explores
these questions.
Richard Shapiro directs the graduate program in Social and Cultural
Anthropology at the California Institute of Integral Studies - a
program committed to linking scholarship and activism to facilitate
critical self-reflection, local and global alliance building,
multicultural diversity, social and environmental justice, and the
decolonization of imaginations and communities. He is a second
generation American Jew who travels regularly to India in support of
the work of Angana Chatterji, his life partner.
Excavating Christian and Secular Christian Cultural
Dominance: Building Inclusive, Emancipatory Communities
This workshop is for people of all cultural/religious traditions
who wish to explore the following questions in a supportive space
conducive to self-reflection and alliance building: How are we
impacted by Christian notions and practices in relation to self,
other, body, pleasure, morality, authority, truth? How are we
privileged or targeted in relation to Christian/secular Christian
culture? How have we been allies to individuals and groups targeted by
this form of dominance? How have we resisted this dominance?
Through discussion, caucuses, small and large group exercises, we
will learn together to enhance capacity to enact justice.
Richard Shapiro has been active in postcolonial, emancipatory
education for the past twenty years. He teaches graduate courses on
alliance building, anthropological research, critical social thought,
and history. activism to facilitate critical self-reflection, local
and global alliance building, multicultural diversity, social and
environmental justice, and the decolonization of imaginations and
communities. He is a second generation American Jew who travels
regularly to India in support of the work of Angana Chatterji, his
life partner in emancipatory education for the past twenty years. He
teaches graduate courses on alliance building, anthropological
research, critical social thought, and history.
FACING A CHALLENGE WITHIN: