Politicized religion against institutionalized violence: Liberation theology in the global religious imaginary

Abstract

Since its beginnings, in the late 60´s in Latin America, liberation theology, both as a social-political-religious movement as a theoretical reflection, influenced churches, religious communities, political engaged groups, faith, ethnic, nationalist and gender-based social movements in many parts of the world. This theology, in order to face the many institutionalized forms of violence (hunger, social exclusion, gender, class and ethnic prejudices) took politics seriously as mediation to religious faith. During a long process of internal differentiation and opening to new themes and methods, in which there were many crises and conflicts, the various liberation theologies interacted with other theologies, religions and cultures. Today, due to the cultural globalization processes, a social and religious global imaginary is on the rise. Theologies of liberation (in the form of reports, biographies, symbols, images, motifs, hermeneutics of sacred texts and methods of popular organization) are globalized and are contributing to form a social imaginary around religion. In this imaginary one aspect of liberation theology that emerges is precisely that of a religious faith which assumes political responsibility before structural forms of violence. Such imaginary, even if seemingly intangible, it has influenced the practices and the actual horizon of reality perception in religion and in politics.