Liberation practices and movements work to release bodies, minds, and wills from powers that deny, disable, and enslave, in order to spread their influence (read: coloniality) and build their wealth (read: capitalism). These practices and movements inform, and are informed by, theories and pedagogies of liberation. But whose liberation matters? And is liberation enough?
The powers that deny, disable, and enslave—e.g., patriarchy, empire, religion, market, caste, phobia, etcetera—are many and they are very smart at hiding in the flows of life and at adapting to changing situations. Those powers sustain and justify each other. Liberation practices and movements, theories and pedagogies, interrogate and call for the dismantling of those life- denying powers.
While liberation has been gained by and for many, some people remain denied, disabled, and enslaved. Moreover, life is so multifaceted that one could experience release at one facet (e.g., education) but is denied and enslaved at other facets (e.g., gender, class, race, sexuality).
Liberation is possible, yet a utopia for so many.
They who have experienced liberation carry the baggage of being stomped by life-denying powers, and the traumas of the processes of liberation. Moreover, liberation of humankinds has been prioritized over against the liberation of earth, sea, sky, and their many inhabitants.
DARE 2023 will provide platforms for discerning and radically engaging with the quests for and questions of liberation, and the contributions and limits of theologies, practices, theories, and pedagogies in the quest for liberation. And most importantly, for shaping the future of liberation quest(ion)s and mentoring future generations of liberationists.
DARE 2023 is a space for all who work collaboratively to overthrow the powers that deny, disable, and enslave. Activists and practitioners, students and scholars, of any or of no faith, from all flows of life, are invited to participate by proposing a paper to present at the DARE Global Forum at Bangkok (Thailand) on13-16 September 2023.
Presentations on the quest(ion)s for liberation in the following six areas are invited:
While a pair of topics is assigned to each area (or stream), we will consider proposals that intermix two or more topics from across the six areas. Discern, and engage radically!
The ecological biodiversity has been on a decline – in terms of the number of species, the quality of their existence, and the state of the planet – since humans started to (pro)claim and assert their privileges and dominion. The planet as “oikoumene”—habitable world—is under threat
due to human expansion, cultures of war, hunger for power and wealth, and other anthropogenic experiments. In our current context, we invite proposals that interrogate the Anthropocene and imagine liberation on behalf of, and with, ecology. How do we live responsibly with our
planetary cousins in a world “fastened” by technology and other kinds? What have we learned, and how do we learn, from the ecosystem?
Peace is not possible on empty stomachs and with sickly bodies. And justice is empty when the poor are hungry, thirsty, and sick, while rich nations fund wars and intergalactic projects. Can there be peace without justice? How do we build peace in a world that has enough economic power but lacks the hunger for justice? We invite presentations that engage with such quest(ion)s.
Growth and success are inevitable, but in whose image? And in whose eyes? Is development (not) a mask for enculturation (call it Westernization, or Chino-fication), and an excuse for supremacism? At the underside of development are laborers, who are trapped by their class and caste. As well as their roles to their families, e.g., mothers have to work to feed their children.
What does liberation mean for them? We invite presentations that engage with such quest(ion)s.
Human communities are sustained and ordered by rituals and ceremonies. Rituals and
ceremonies define what are “normal” for communities, but not all rituals and ceremonies promote wellbeing. And not all communities welcome those who do not have the body, ability, means, or the will to participate in those rituals and ceremonies. We invite presentations that interrogate the processes of normalization in cultural and religious rituals and ceremonies, and reflect on what liberation may look like for the “un-normal.”
The Atlantic slave trade was justified with scriptural texts, and churches and mission bodies (including LMS, one of the parents for CWM) benefitted from the commodification of black bodies from Africa. When slavery was abolished across the Atlantic (1833 in UK, 1865 in USA), black birding emerged across the Pacific. Slavery continues into the modern time in sweatshops, in fields of children laborers, in streets of sex workers, and other forms of modern day slavery, across the world. What should discipleship do in such contexts? How may discipleship define and secure liberation for modern day slaves? We invite presentations along those lines and quest(ion)s.
The world is ridden with crises: poverty, hunger, pandemics, climate trauma, wars, fundamentalism, sexism, casteism, racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and so forth. Those are clear signs of our time. How do we do theology in a world burdened by human induced crises? How do we participate in God’s mission, and Rise to Life together with other-kinds and the whole creation, in our crises-ridden time? We invite presentations along those lines and quest(ion)s.
To propose a presentation, fill in the requested information in the following table and send it in word/doc format to [email protected]:
Full names | |
Title of paper | |
Area or stream
(from list of 6) |
|
Abstract
(150–250 words) |
|
Keywords
(5–7 terms) |
|
Biographical
information |
|
Submit revised paper for DARE
projects |
Yes No |
E-mail contact | |
Affiliations and
locations |
|
Related projects,
videos, publications |
1.
2. |
Contribution to
travel expenses* |
100 % %
cannot contribute+ |
* CWM will provide accommodation and meals for all presenters during the 4 days of the global forum, but it would help if some presenters can find funding to cover all or part of their travel expenses. Doing so will free up the DARE budget to bring more presenters and students from less privileged nations and institutions.
+ Your choice here will NOT influence the decision on your proposal, which will be blind reviewed.
May 26, 2023: Deadline for receiving proposal
June 16: Notification of decision on proposal (Note: proposals will be blind reviewed)
July 07: Receive feedback on proposal
July 28: First draft of paper (2,000–2,500 words) Aug 18: Receive feedback on first draft of papers Aug 25: First draft of program
Sept 13-16: Face-to-face gathering at Bangkok
Oct 30: Submit revised paper (5,000-6,000 words; Chicago style; footnotes & bibliography)