New Directions for Catholic Social and Political Research : Humanity Vs. Hyper-Modernity

This book offers scholars who ground their research in compassion and pacifism a new framework for the socio-political analysis of current global events. By tackling a broad range of critical themes in various disciplines, the essays compose a critical narrative of the ways in which power and violence shape society, culture, and belief. In addition to the contemporary dynamics of international economics, political murder, and the rhetorical antagonism between Christianity and Islam, the book addresses cultural strife in the West, the societal effects of neoconservative hegemony in the United States and the world, and the overall question of religious credence in connection with political action. All such topics are discussed with a view toward providing solutions and policies that are informed by a comprehensive desire to resist violence and war, on the one hand, and to foment cohesion and harmony at the community level, on the other. Dedication 5 Acknowledgments 6 Contents 7 Notes on Contributors 9 List of Graphs 11 List of Tables 12 Chapter 1: Introductory: Hyper-Modernity 14 The Problematic Areas Are Essentially Three: Politics, Economics, and Discourse 15 Presentation of Chapters 22 Notes 26 Chapter 2: Blasphemous Speech in a Secular Society: An Anachronism? 28 Introduction 28 The Setting 29 Blasphemy, Theologically Defined 32 Blasphemy and Offensive Speech in Jurisprudence 34 Blasphemy and the Ethics of Journalism 36 Enlightenment, Secularism, Laicism 37 Freedom of Expression 39 The Ethics of Communication 42 Notes 43 Chapter 3: Epidemiological Research, Individualism, and Public Health 47 Introduction 47 Rational Choice Theory, Methodological Individualism, Personhood, and Ethics 48 Individualism, Modern Epidemiology, and Society: A Critical Appraisal 50 Embodied Sociology, Epidemiology, and Public Health 51 Beyond Reductionism, Arguments for a Thicker Anthropology 52 Social Production of Disease and Critical Epidemiology 54 Research, The Market, and the Agency of the Epidemiologists 55 Beyond Social Atomism and Market Individualism: Promoting Structural Justice 56 Conclusion 60 Notes 61 Chapter 4: Unspeakable: James W. Douglass, Non-­violence, and Political Murder 65 Introduction: Apocalyptic Violence Against Both the Symbolic Order and the Real 65 The Theology of Liberation as Eschatology and the Coming of the Human Being 67 The Unspeakable 68 The Politics of the Unspeakable: Parapolitics 70 The Martyrological Meta-Narrative and the Unspeakable 73 Malcolm X 74 Martin Luther King 78 Kennedy and Merton 79 Conclusion: Metanoia Versus Re-Claiming History 83 Notes 86 Bibliography 91 Chapter 5: The Neoconservative Influence on American Catholics, 1950–2015: Smothering Pacifism in the Cradle 93 Introduction 93 Veblen: Patriotism and the Publicist 97 The Neocon Epic 103 Conclusions 111 Notes 113 Chapter 6: René Girard and Modernity’s Apocalypse 120 Modernity’s Soteriology? 120 Scapegoating Then 122 Scapegoating Now 125 Modernity: Birth Pangs of Apocalypse 127 The War on Terror: “Satan Casts out Satan” 130 9/11: The Inverted Sacred 131 The Dangers of Idolatry 134 Notes 136 Chapter 7: On the Science of Discord 138 Introductory: The Current Fixation with “Diversity,” “Heritage,” “Identity,” and All That 138 Foucault’s “Power/Knowledge” 143 Bataille 149 Conclusive Reflections 156 Notes 158 Chapter 8: The Political Scripting of Jesus: Utilizing the Savior Story to Exercise Power Today 160 Introduction 160 The Problem 160 The Notifications 162 Why the Story of These Censures Matters 165 Jon Sobrino 169 Jesus the Liberator/Christ the Liberator 169 Judas the Liberator/Iscariot the Liberator 178 Tolstoy and Veblen 190 Roger Haight and the “Church of State” 197 Charming the Postmodern Pirates 197 The Literalized Metaphor of a Female Redeemer 203 Salvation in the “Church of State” 210 Kirisuto in a Purple Kimono and the Eventual “Appointment” of Peter C. Phan 213 Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and the God Who Committed Seppuku 213 Peter C. Phan and the Asian Face of the Church of State 233 The Swamp 246 Final Considerations: “Another Combination of Energy” 251 Notes 255 Chapter 9: The Political Economy of Hyper-Modernity 265 Introduction: The Political Incorrectness of Being Inherently Hegemonic 265 An Old Thesis of the American Left 269 Bretton Woods: The Beginning of the Crisis 270 The Run on Gold 273 Prophylactics 274 Nixon Crashes the System 276 The Awkward, Inconclusive 1970s 277 The “Neoliberal” Machine 280 The “Volcker Counter-Shock” 282 The “Long Bull Market,” the Japanese Eunuch, and the Endorsement of China 285 Conductores of FDI 292 In Transition 293 Appendix 297 Notes 305 Chapter 10: “The Blueprint” 312 The Question 313 Imagine... 313 “Communal Money/Communal Currency” 313 The Cycles of the Economy 314 “The Gift of the Beehive”: A Gift Within the Gift 315 “Time-Limited Property” 316 “Self-Entrepreneurship” as the Basis for Business and Remuneration 316 Earth, Mother 317 Reinventing Consumption 318 Index 320 Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Introductory: Hyper-Modernity....Pages 1-14 Blasphemous Speech in a Secular Society: An Anachronism?....Pages 15-33 Epidemiological Research, Individualism, and Public Health....Pages 35-52 Unspeakable: James W. Douglass, Non-violence, and Political Murder....Pages 53-80 The Neoconservative Influence on American Catholics, 1950–2015: Smothering Pacifism in the Cradle....Pages 81-107 René Girard and Modernity’s Apocalypse....Pages 109-126 On the Science of Discord The “Diabolic” Idiom of French Postmodernism and the “Politics of Diversity” in America....Pages 127-148 The Political Scripting of Jesus: Utilizing the Savior Story to Exercise Power Today The Debate over Vatican Censures, Apocrypha, and Literary Interpretations....Pages 149-253 The Political Economy of Hyper-Modernity A Tale of America’s Hegemonic Exigencies Recounted Through the Undulations of the US Balance of Payments (1946–2015)....Pages 255-301 “The Blueprint” A Modest Monetary and Organizational Proposal for Re-launching the Economic Welfare of Communities....Pages 303-310 Back Matter....Pages 311-319