Postmodernism and Social Praxis Essay -- Ethics Feminism Theology Essa

Postmodernism and Social Praxis Whereas the interpreter is obliged to go to the depth of things, like an excavator, the moment of interpretation [genealogy] is like an overview, from higher and higher up, which allows the depth to be laid out in front of him in a more and more profound visibility; depth is resituated as an absolutely superficial secret.(18) So those are the changes, and I try to show those changes...(19) In Communities of Resistance and Solidarity, as well as in A Feminist Ethic of Risk, Sharon D. Welch sets forth a liberation theology in which the deconstructive processes of Michel Foucault are key. Her theology is an amalgam of Foucault's poststructuralist concepts and liberation theology's action-oriented motivation. Welch claims the genealogical methods of Foucault are ideal motivators, urging the activist to political involvement. However, Michel Foucault's genealogy was not intended for such pragmatic applications. Foucault's purpose in writing genealogies was never action-oriented. He only set out to "show those changes." By definition, genealogy never rests in one discourse or on one "truth." Foucault, as an "interpreter," emphasizes the necessary tension between keeping distance from historical discourse and awareness of one's inescapable position in historical discourse. In short, the genealogist can never rest on his or her laurels: seeming bases of "truth" are actually co nstantly changing historical constructions. While Welch claims not only to possess this type of awareness, but also to recognize its absolute necessity for her theology, she is in danger of defeating her own goals: with no solid foundations, no fixed truths, on which to base liberation theology's arguments, how can her action-... ...78. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. Trans. Richard Howard. New York: Pantheon, 1965. Kaufmann, Walter, ed. The Portable Nietzsche. New York: Penguin Books, 1982. Mohanty, Chandra Talpade, Ann Russo, and Lourdes Torres. Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1991. Rabinow, Paul, ed. The Foucault Reader. New York: Pantheon, 1984. Schà ¼ssler-Fiorenza, Elizabeth. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins. New York: Crossroad, 1983. Welch, Sharon D. Communities of Resistance and Solidarity: A Feminist Theology of Liberation. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 1985. A Feminist Ethic of Risk. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 1985. Winter, Gibson. Address. "Religious Social Ethics in a Postmodern World." Temple University, Philadelphia, 22 March 1995.