On the Significance of Religion for Social Justice

1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-03179-6
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 142 Seiten, Format (B × H): 129 mm x 198 mm

Reihe: Religion Matters

On the Significance of Religion in Social Justice analyses the role of religion in social justice from the perspectives of Traditional African Religion, Christianity, and Islam, by bringing different disciplines into play, including medicine and health, humanities and Indigenous knowledge systems or African metaphysics, Islam and socio-political studies, practical theology, and pastoral care. With much of current academic, political, and public attention focusing on the problematic dimensions of religion, this book also explores the constructive resources of religion for social justice. Analysing the specific contributions of religious actors in this field, their potential, and possible problems connected with them, this book sheds light on the concrete contours of the often vague “religious factor” in processes of social change for social justice.

References to current and former settings of social injustice within South Africa provide “real-life” contexts for their discussions. Combining cutting-edge research with current and former settings with concrete implications for academics, policymakers, and practitioners, this concise and easily accessible volume helps to build bridges between these often-separated spheres of engagement.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Thesnaar, Christo

Maseko, Mthokozisi

Makanya, Sinethemba

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam & Islamische Studien
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religion & Politik, Religionsfreiheit
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsethik, Weltethos

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction Part I: Religion Matters for Social Injustice  1. Orientation: Does religion contribute to Social Injustice? 2. A cry reverberates across several generations: The epistemic, reparative, and metaphysical dimensions of social injustice 3. Reflecting on the Christian Church’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission faith community hearing regarding Social Injustices 4. Textual Hermeneutics in the Politics of Socioeconomics - A Thematic Overview of South African Muslim Actors in the Arena of Social Injustice  Part 2: Religion Matters for Social Justice  5. Orientation: What do they have that others don’t? The strengths and weaknesses of religious actors in dealing with Social Justice 6. Ubulungiswa: An African metaphysical orientation to social justice 7. A pastoral theological proposal to assist the church in its commitment towards Social Justice 8. Indigenous Muslim Hermeneutics and the Potential of an Islamic Charity Apparatus in Muslim Minority South Africa in Relation to Social Justice  Part 3  9. Now what? Implications for Academics, Policy Makers, and Practitioners

Über Autor(innen)

Christo Thesnaar is Professor of Practical Theology in the discipline group of practical theology and missiology in the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University. His focus discipline within Practical Theology is pastoral care and counselling, where he is responsible for two master's courses on pastoral caregiving based on the Dialogical Intergenerational Pastoral Process. His main research areas are on themes related to reconciliation, such as memory, intergenerational trauma, justice, healing, and restitution. He was a founding member of the Institute for the Healing of Memories in 1998 and currently serves on the board of the Institute which strives to be a leading agent of hope, transformation, and peace by empowering individuals, communities, and nations through the healing of memories.

Sinethemba Makanya is an Inyanga (Indigenous South African Healer) specializing in psycho-spiritual diseases, mental health, and sexual reproductive health. She serves as a senior lecturer and head of the Art Therapy program in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Johannesburg. Makanya holds a PhD in Psychology and Medical and Health Humanities from the University of the Witwatersrand. She holds a Master’s in Drama Therapy from New York University. She has extensive experience lecturing in applied drama, drama therapy, drama in education, medical and health humanities, and health systems science. Her current research interests include embodied and creative approaches to healing and the potential of Indigenous Knowledge Systems to enrich and expand theoretical frameworks from the Global South.

Mthokozisi Maseko is a traditionally trained Muslim scholar of nine years, former Imam of five years, and academic. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate and Research Associate at the SARChI Chair Center for African Diplomacy and Leadership at the University of Johannesburg. His research interests revolve around ideology in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Literature, Society, Politics and Religion with the specialization of the same themes.