Theology and Ecology Across the Disciplines: On Care for Our Common Home (Religion and the University)

The threat of ecological collapse is increasingly becoming a reality for the world's populations, both human and nonhuman; addressing this global challenge requires enormous cultural creativity and demands a diversity of perspectives, especially from the humanities. Theology and Ecology Across the Disciplines draws from a variety of academic disciplines and positions in order to explore the role and nature of environmental responsibility, especially where such themes intersect with religious or theological viewpoints. Covering disciplines such as history, philosophy, literature, politics, peace studies, economics, women's studies, and the ecological sciences as well as systematic and moral theology, the contributors emphasize how these positions have begun to develop distinct perspectives on urgent ecological issues, as well as pointing toward specific practices at the local and international level. This volume provides a multidisciplinary point of departure for urgent conversations on environmental responsibility that resist simplistic solutions. Rather, the contributors highlight the complex nature of modern ecology, and suggest creative ways forward in the situation of an apparently intractable global problem. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollection.com. Open access was funded by Knowledge Unlatched. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents List of Figures List of Contributors Acknowledgments Introduction: Theology Crossing Disciplines on Earth Matters Prologue: Understanding the Science of Climate Change Part 1: Culture 1. Ecotheology before Ecology and Environmentalism: Reclaiming the Missing Heritage of Natural Theology 2. Thoreau’s Woodchopper, Wordsworth’s Leech-gatherer, and the Representation of “Humble and Rustic Life” 3. How Ecology Can Save the Life of Theology: A Philosophical Contribution to the Engagement of Ecology and Theology 4. Key Issues in Ecological Theology: Incarnation, Evolution, Communion Part 2: Social Science 5. Creation and Creativity 6. “No Compromise in Defense of Mother Earth”: The Religion and Politics of Radical Environmentalism 7. Strategic Peacebuilding and an “Integral Ecology” 8. Against the “Unity” of Babel: Liberation Theology and the Language of Sustainable Development Part 3: Critique 9. The Environment, the Common Good, and Women’s Participation 10. The Planetary Boundaries Framework and Food Production: A Radical Redefinition of Sustainable Development? Part 4: Practice 11. Restoration and Transformation: A Theological Engagement with Ecological Restoration 12. Laudato Si’ and Standing Rock: Water Justice and Indigenous Ecological Knowledge 13. Eating Our Way into the Care of Our Common Home Part 5: New Directions 14. Law for and from the Natural World 15. In Defense of Biodiversity: Biodiversity in Ecology and Theology 16. Evolution: A Theology of Niche Construction for the Twenty-First Century Index "The threat of ecological collapse is a possibility that is increasingly becoming a reality for the world's populations, both human and nonhuman. Addressing this global challenge will require enormous cultural creativity and demand a diversity of perspectives, especially those that deal with religion and the human sciences. Toward this end, this volume draws from a variety of academic disciplines and positions to explore the role and nature of environmental responsibility, especially where these intersect with religious or theological viewpoints. The disciplines, including history, philosophy, literature, politics, peace studies, economics, women's studies, and the ecological sciences, to name a few, have begun to develop distinct perspectives on the urgent ecological issues of our day, as well as pointing toward specific practices at the local and global level. This volume provides a multidisciplinary point of departure for conversations on environmental responsibility that resist simplistic solutions but rather highlight the complex nature of the ecological issues and provide conversations about potential ways forward in what appears to be an intractable global problem of huge complexity"-- Provided by publisher