Kwok Pui-lan

From a major scholar, a postcolonial perspective on key current and historical issues in Anglicanism, foregrounding the voices of theologians and church leaders from the Global South. In recent years, the Anglican Communion has been consumed by debates about gender, sexuality, authority, and biblical interpretation, which have frequently divided along North/South lines. Much of these controversies stem from the colonial history of Anglicanism. Written by a pioneer in postcolonial theology, this groundbreaking volume challenges Eurocentrism and racism in the Anglican Church by highlighting the voices of theologians and church leaders from the Global South. The Anglican Tradition from a Post-Colonial Perspective scrutinizes Anglican theology and history to advocate for the decolonization of the Church. It examines controversies on Christianity and the social order; economic justice; gender and sexuality; women’s leadership; worship; and the Church’s mission in a religiously pluralistic world.

From a major scholar, a postcolonial perspective on key current and historical issues in Anglicanism, foregrounding the voices of theologians and church leaders from the Global South. In recent years, the Anglican Communion has been consumed by debates about gender, sexuality, authority, and biblical interpretation, which have frequently divided along North/South lines. Much of these controversies stem from the colonial history of Anglicanism. Written by a pioneer in postcolonial theology, this groundbreaking volume challenges Eurocentrism and racism in the Anglican Church by highlighting the voices of theologians and church leaders from the Global South. The Anglican Tradition from a Post-Colonial Perspective scrutinizes Anglican theology and history to advocate for the decolonization of the Church. It examines controversies on Christianity and the social order; economic justice; gender and sexuality; women’s leadership; worship; and the Church’s mission in a religiously pluralistic world.

Postcolonial Politics and Theology seeks to reform and reimagine the field of political theology—uprooting it from the colonial soil—using the comparative lenses of postcolonial politics and theology to bring attention to the realities of the Global South. Kwok Pui-lan traces the history of the political impacts of Western theological development, especially developments in the U. S. context, and the need to shift these interlocking fields toward non-Western traditions in theory and practice. A special focus of the book is on the changing sociopolitical realities of American Empire and Sino-American competition, illustrated in Donald Trump's slogan of "Make America Great Again" and Xi Jinping’s hope for a “China Dream.” The shifting of U. S. and Asian relationships highlights the need to move our theological and political categories away from a vision of strongman domination and toward a postmodern, postcolonial, and transnational world, especially exemplified in the Asia Pacific context. Throughout, Kwok overturns the idea of centering one cultural framework and marginalizing others in favor of living into a multiplicity of deeply contextual theologies. She explores how these theologies are being developed in global, postcolonial contexts, through struggles for democracy and civil disobedience in Hong Kong, by efforts to reclaim selfhood and sexual identity from exploitative colonial desire, through the work of interreligious solidarity and peacebuilding, and in the practice of earth care in the face of ecological crisis.

Occupy Religion introduces readers to the growing role of religion in the Occupy Movement and asks provocative questions about how people of faith can work for social justice. From the temperance movement to the Civil Rights movement, churches have played key roles in important social movements, and Occupy Religion shows this role is no less critical today.

Occupy Religion introduces readers to the growing role of religion in the Occupy Movement and asks provocative questions about how people of faith can work for social justice. From the temperance movement to the Civil Rights movement, churches have played key roles in important social movements, and Occupy Religion shows this role is no less critical today.

In the burgeoning field of Postcolonial studies, Kwok Pui-lan offers the first full-length theological treatment of this important perspective. Postcolonialism recognizes that most theology has been formed in dominant, imperial cultures (such as Europe and America) and that theology's task now must be a "decolonizing of the mind" that frees Christianity from the imperializing structures that have imprisoned us all. The author's experience as a Chinese Christian is key to her postcolonial understanding; she asks why Chinese women (such as her ancestors) became Christian over a century ago. Western missionaries wrote about the "uplifting" of these women into the gospel faith and Western civilization, but how did these women perceive what happened to them as they became Christian? Postcolonialism empowers an investigation of concepts such as "home" and "belonging," as well as ideas of borders and boundaries. Identity and hybridity are frequent topics for exploration. Post colonialism realizes that there are many centres and margins within the global world today ( and within global Christianity), and that perspectives differ amazingly from the various places where Christians live, express, and talk about their faith. In this book, Kwok Pui-lan explains her methodological basis for postcolonial theology, and then explores several specific topics, including Christology, pluralism, and creation.

The burgeoning field of postcolonial studies argues that most theology has been formed in dominant cultures, laden intrinsically with imperializing structures. An essential task facing theology is thus to "decolonize" the mind and free Christianity from colonizing bias and structures. Here, in this truly groundbreaking study, highly respected feminist theologian Kwok Pui-lan offers the first full-length theological treatment of what it means to do postcolonial feminist theology. She explains her methodological basis and explores several specific topics, including Christology, pluralism, and creation.

Asian women comprise more than a quarter of the world's population, and the forms in which they express feminist theology are many and varied, extending through grassroots movements, theological networks, ecumenical conferences and journals. Those involved in the process include community organizers, theological students, church leaders and social activists, among whom even the concept 'feminism' assumes many definitions and substitutes. Kwok Pui-lan's introduction to this huge subject begins with a survey of the social, political and cultural contexts of Asian women's experiences, and then traces the emergence of feminist consciousness and the organization of women's networks. She describes the resources of Asian feminist theology and the appropriation of Asian religious traditions, and considers the reconstructions of the concept of God in inclusive categories. Finally, she summarizes Asian women's critique of the patriarchal church and outlines the search for a new spirituality that express women's embodiedness and sexuality.