Religion of the Field Negro

On Black Secularism and Black Theology

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Political, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, African-American Studies, Theology
Cover of the book Religion of the Field Negro by Vincent W. Lloyd, Fordham University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Vincent W. Lloyd ISBN: 9780823277650
Publisher: Fordham University Press Publication: November 7, 2017
Imprint: Fordham University Press Language: English
Author: Vincent W. Lloyd
ISBN: 9780823277650
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Publication: November 7, 2017
Imprint: Fordham University Press
Language: English

Black theology has lost its direction. To reclaim its original power and to advance racial justice struggles today black theology must fully embrace blackness and theology. But multiculturalism and religious pluralism have boxed in black theology, forcing it to speak in terms dictated by a power structure founded on white supremacy. In Religion of the Field Negro, Vincent W. Lloyd advances and develops black theology immodestly, privileging the perspective of African Americans and employing a distinctively theological analysis.

As Lloyd argues, secularism is entangled with the disciplining impulses of modernity, with neoliberal economics, and with Western imperialism – but it also contaminates and castrates black theology. Inspired by critics of secularism in other fields, Religion of the Field Negro probes the subtle ways in which religion is excluded and managed in black culture. Using Barack Obama, Huey Newton, and Steve Biko as case studies, it shows how the criticism of secularism is the prerequisite of all criticism, and it shows how criticism and grassroots organizing must go hand in hand. But scholars of secularism too often ignore race, and scholars of race too often ignore secularism. Scholars of black theology too often ignore the theoretical insights of secular black studies scholars, and race theorists too often ignore the critical insights of religious thinkers.

Religion of the Field Negro brings together vibrant scholarly conversations that have remained at a distance from each other until now. Weaving theological sources, critical theory, and cultural analysis, this book offers new answers to pressing questions about race and justice, love and hope, theorizing and organizing, and the role of whites in black struggle. The insights of James Cone are developed together with those of James Baldwin, Sylvia Wynter, and Achille Mbembe, all in the service of developing a political-theological vision that motivates us to challenge the racist paradigms of white supremacy.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Black theology has lost its direction. To reclaim its original power and to advance racial justice struggles today black theology must fully embrace blackness and theology. But multiculturalism and religious pluralism have boxed in black theology, forcing it to speak in terms dictated by a power structure founded on white supremacy. In Religion of the Field Negro, Vincent W. Lloyd advances and develops black theology immodestly, privileging the perspective of African Americans and employing a distinctively theological analysis.

As Lloyd argues, secularism is entangled with the disciplining impulses of modernity, with neoliberal economics, and with Western imperialism – but it also contaminates and castrates black theology. Inspired by critics of secularism in other fields, Religion of the Field Negro probes the subtle ways in which religion is excluded and managed in black culture. Using Barack Obama, Huey Newton, and Steve Biko as case studies, it shows how the criticism of secularism is the prerequisite of all criticism, and it shows how criticism and grassroots organizing must go hand in hand. But scholars of secularism too often ignore race, and scholars of race too often ignore secularism. Scholars of black theology too often ignore the theoretical insights of secular black studies scholars, and race theorists too often ignore the critical insights of religious thinkers.

Religion of the Field Negro brings together vibrant scholarly conversations that have remained at a distance from each other until now. Weaving theological sources, critical theory, and cultural analysis, this book offers new answers to pressing questions about race and justice, love and hope, theorizing and organizing, and the role of whites in black struggle. The insights of James Cone are developed together with those of James Baldwin, Sylvia Wynter, and Achille Mbembe, all in the service of developing a political-theological vision that motivates us to challenge the racist paradigms of white supremacy.

More books from Fordham University Press

Cover of the book Sabato Rodia's Towers in Watts by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book Murderous Consent by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book Expectation by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book Heidegger, Philosophy, and Politics by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book Ordinary Oblivion and the Self Unmoored by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book Dissonance by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book Harrying by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book Becoming Christian by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book Jews and the Ends of Theory by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book Forgetting Lot's Wife by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book War after Death by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book From a Nickel to a Token by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book Fictitious Capital by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book Fordham by Vincent W. Lloyd
Cover of the book Shakespeare as a Way of Life by Vincent W. Lloyd
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy