ACLA 2009 Convention
March 26-29, 2009
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

The Political Theologies of Paul of Tarsus

    * Seminar Organizer: Julia Ng, Northwestern U; Virgil Brower,
Northwestern U and Chicago Theological Seminary; Markus Hardtmann, Centre
College

The figure of Paul dominates the self-understanding of Western political and
social institutions as Judeo-Christian in their heritage; its significance
extends beyond purely religious concerns. The recent resurgence of interest
in Paul among theologians, philosophers, and political theorists also
attests to the importance of Pauline theology for the contemporary
socio-political realm. This “globalization” of Paul has in no small part
been enabled by the recognition that Paul’s concern for law and justice has
little to do with individual salvation or private righteousness, and rather
more with its own “globalization” of a “local” context: the decaying Roman
empire, in which “nationality” consisted in a multiplicity of “ethnoi”
hoping for a justice to come beyond any particular instantiation of justice
by law. Taking the plurality and multilingualism of peoples and faiths
underlying Paul’s universalizing aspirations as a departure, this seminar
invites papers to explore and elaborate on any aspect of the politicization
and radicalization of his thought. Possible topics include: How does the
recent focus on Paul — in texts by Agamben, Badiou, Derrida and Taubes, for
instance — seek to renew a critical language of authority, hospitality,
community and universality within contemporary philosophical and political
discourse? To what extent do these political theologies join or part ways
with other interpretive communities such as psychoanalysis and Latin
American liberation theology? How might translation — by Paul, by his
exegetes from Origen to Barth — help (re)draw political boundaries in
Pauline discourse? Does the engagement with Paul in literature and film by
Hölderlin, Hebel, Kafka, Pasolini or others challenge the exegetical
tradition, or does the local character of interpretation participate in
Paul’s epistolary message about radical community?

Please submit paper proposals by Nov. 1, 2008 directly through the ACLA
website at: http://www.acla.org/acla2009/?page_id=7

For further information, please contact Julia Ng ([log in to unmask]) or
visit the conference website at: http://www.acla.org/acla2009/?p=170

*******************
The German Studies Call for Papers List
Editor: Stefani Engelstein
Assistant Editor:  Megan McKinstry
Sponsored by the University of Missouri
Info available at: http://www.missouri.edu/~graswww/resources/gerlistserv.html