Remaking Humanity: Embodiment and Hope in Catholic Theology

Drawing upon Edward Schillebeeckxs theology and Judith Butlers philosophy, Adam Beyt uses the framework of nonviolent hope to construct a Catholic political theology responding to dehumanizing violence. Dehumanizing violence names words, institutions, or acts violating the inherent dignity of being made in the image and likeness of God. Theology can participate in dehumanizing violence by claiming an uninterrogated universality that marginalizes bodies due to their perceived differences such as gender, race, sexuality, or ability. The books constructive project integrates Schillebeeckxs and Butlers thought with queer theory and phenomenology to model embodiment as an enfleshing dynamism between bodies and signification. The text then posits Catholic discipleship as incarnating hope by defending the humanum, the new humanity announced through Gods Reign. Combining reflections from Schillebeeckx and Butler, this hope centers discipleship as nonviolent world building. Concluding with a sustained reflection with the writings of Franz Fanon and Walter Benjamin, the final chapter sketches a Catholic solidaristic response to contemporary struggles against the necropolitics of colonizing and state violence through assemblies of hope. See more