The Feminist Studies in Religion Book Series welcomes the submission of book proposals in cutting edge research at the intersection of feminist theory and religious studies. A companion to the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, the oldest feminist academic journal in religious studies, this series is likewise interreligious in its subjects, transdisciplinary in its methods, and intersectional in its analyses. The editors are committed to rigorous thinking and analysis in the service of feminist transformation of both the discipline of religious studies and the institutions of religion and society. The series seeks to publish the work of both established and emerging feminist scholars in religion.
Congress of Wo/men: Religion, Gender, and Kyriarchal Power
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza
(ebook available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble)
Religion is a space of struggle, resistance, and social transformation. In Congress of Wo/men: Religion, Gender, and Kyriarchal Power, leading feminist scholar Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza challenges the tendency in feminist theory to leave behind religion as a place for feminist politics. She also confronts the tendency of religious feminists to still think about women as if they are all the same, or to limit them to complementary roles with men. In the face of neoliberal theories of globalization, Congress of Wo/men proposes a feminist political the*logy that is deeply intersectional and widely participatory. Presenting an alternative vision for global justice in the landscape of neoliberal kyriarchy, Schüssler Fiorenza calls upon religious and non-religious feminists to envision transformation in struggle, friendship, and community.
Sexual Violence and Sacred Texts
Amy Kalmanofsky (editor)
(ebook available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble)
At the heart of many religions are sacred texts that depict or even incite sexual violence. Most is directed against women. Speaking from a variety of faith traditions, feminist scholars ask whether or not such texts can be interpreted in a manner that promotes healing from sexual violence and abuse. Sexual Violence and Sacred Texts provides an informed and passionate, interfaith dialogue for scholars seeking to engage current social issues and the impact of religion on women and girls globally. The resulting scholarship empowers women and religious leaders to confront sacred texts that re-inscribe sexual violence and to promote gender equity for the flourishing of spiritual lives.
Women Religion Revolution
Xochitl Alvizo and Gina Messina (editors)
(ebook available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble)
In a world where women’s issues are political issues, feminism and religion are incorrectly scripted as opposing sides. Drawing on the messages of love and social justice from within their religious traditions, women are leading feminist movements that promote positive social change at both micro and macro levels. The authors in this volume show how religion is fueling women’s efforts to revolutionize the world. The stories collected here call us to recognize these revolutions and to go forth with renewed courage and boldness.
Mary, Mother of Martyrs: How Motherhood Became Self-Sacrifice in Early Christianity
Kathleen Gallagher Elkins
The Virgin Mary has been idealized as a self-sacrificing mother throughout Christian history. But she is not the only maternal figure from early Christian history whose story is connected to violent loss. Thus, this book examines several ancient representations of mothers and children in contexts of socio-political violence (including Mary in the canonical gospels, the female figures in the Revelation to John, the Maccabean mother with seven sons, and the co-martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas) in order to demonstrate the ways that notions of early Christian motherhood, as today, are contextual and are produced for various political, social, and ethical reasons. In each chapter, the ancient maternal figure is juxtaposed with an example of contemporary maternal activism (the madres de Plaza de Mayo, Pussy Riot, women in the FMLN, and women suicide attackers), to highlight the ways that maternal self-sacrifice can be understood as strategic, varied, politically charged, and rhetorically flexible.
COMING SOON!