This session offers original research on the intersections of three themes: migration and ecofeminism; the entanglement of forced migration with placelessness; and a diasporic analysis of the migratory experiences of desperation and uncertainty as a revelatory site.
In light of the Presidential Theme for 2024, our panelists will engage with the questions presented to the AAR membership by the President of the AAR: "The use of violence is directly related to the hierarchical understanding of beings and valuation of their lives. Has religion stood with those who are at the center or at the margin? Are the margin and the center dualistically fixed in our lives?"
This paper provides an ecofeminist analysis of immigrant experiences and the systems that are designed to keep migrants out of their destination countries. Drawing on the stories of migrating women, the paper suggests that the relationship between migrants and the land provides important insights about the inherent interdependence of human beings with one another and with the earth. This analysis is considered in conversation with developing consciousness about the connection between immigration and environmental destruction as well as the epistemological privilege of oppressed women regarding the impacts of global economic and political systems on the earth. The paper contributes to the study of immigration activism, especially as the movement for immigrant rights seeks solidarity with other social activist groups such as women’s rights organizations and networks seeking to address the negative impacts of environmental destruction.
Christian realist thought retains significant power and interest for interpreting global issues and institutions. However, Christian realism has not fully addressed how people on the move – or without a place to call home – relate to political institutions and structures. This field of thought is therefore missing a necessary lens of analysis through which to examine questions of Christian love and social justice in an age of migration. This presentation seeks to open a conversation that 1) incorporates Christian realist insights about human nature, social justice, and political institutions, and 2) recognizes that human migration and the phenomenon of placelessness can deeply change human relationships to those institutions. Our ways of conceiving and doing justice must take into account how “placeless” people relate to their political context. Political structures can, and sometimes must, adapt to the realities of human mobility, multiple belonging, and cases of placelessness in the contemporary global context.
This paper aims to establish the voice of diasporic communities as a theological method. It offers a transdisciplinary approach to theological explorations on our way of knowing and living. I will focus on the experience of diasporic Hongkongers; specifically, how hope is experienced and perceived by this group of people who continue their struggle for liberation after the 2019 pro-democracy protests. Their thoughts and feelings will provide new insights into the relationship between humanity and the divine and blurring the boundaries of place and placelessness. As the sacred reality arises amid desperation and uncertainty, the Mystery in which God meets the people where they are, should generate new stories of God’s salvific act in human history.