Statement : The Task of Enabling Inclusive Theological Discourse
The Task of Enabling Inclusive Theological Discourse
A Statement by the Executive Committee of the Society for the Study of Theology
25 January 2022
The pursuit of truth in theology demands a multiplicity of voices and a deep commitment to inclusion. It requires the insights, arguments, and challenges of a diversity of voices. It suffers when any voice is silenced or excluded because of their race, gender, sexuality, disability, caste, or class. A long history in which such voices have been systematically diminished and excluded for such reasons still structures the discipline today. The Society for the Study of Theology has therefore committed itself to working to address these ongoing injustices that have impoverished the discipline and calls all theologians to join us in this labour.
Establishing the conditions for inclusion places demands on all who work in the theological academy. Theologians have a responsibility to consider their role in this task as individual teachers and researchers; as members of departments, faculties, subject areas, and universities; and as members of professional associations. To be serious about pursuing truth in theology, theologians need to identify and remove barriers to the full inclusion of those whose identities have historically been marginalised and excluded, whose inclusion within the conversations of academic theology remains precarious or half-hearted, or who are included only as ‘comparative’ streams of thought. This goes beyond adding seats at the table for the sake of ‘diversity’. It involves building up a critical mass of participants from marginalised communities, able to shape the substance and methods of the discipline. It also involves the active transformation of exclusive institutional cultures and oppressive discourses (e.g., those of hegemonic whiteness). Such work is necessary for the development of a healthier, more inclusive discipline.
Building an inclusive theological discourse also requires recognition of the ongoing cost to those who remain side-lined or feel their presence to be conditional or ‘othered’ because of their race, gender, sexuality, disability, caste, or class. Being treated in this manner takes a heavy toll on the mental health of students and staff. Certain duties of care (e.g., of teacher for student or employer for employee) naturally involve concern for when health and wellbeing is threatened by the habits and cultures of our discipline. It involves paying attention to the experience of students and staff from historically marginalised backgrounds and to the provision of support as identified and requested by these individuals.
Genuine academic freedom enjoys a freedom of enquiry, one meant to minimise limitations on the pursuit of truth. Diverse and inclusive scholarly communities support this freedom because they remove exclusions based on race, gender, sexuality, disability, caste, or class that limit the claims, arguments and challenges that can be heard. At the same time, some limits legitimately remain. Well-founded academic judgements about which texts and authors are valuable, which are best avoided, and which are illegitimate has always been an essential responsibility of academic teachers and researchers. These judgements form the basis for establishing knowledge, scholarly practice, and academic canons, whether explicit or implicit. Setting texts or inviting speakers suggests that their positions merit serious academic attention. The decision not to focus attention on texts or speakers likely to reinforce the marginalisation of potential scholars is in continuity with deciding against focusing on work that is weak, unscholarly, or pedagogically unhelpful for other reasons. When such decisions are challenged by students and staff from historically marginalised backgrounds, those challenges should be taken seriously as contributions to debates about the nature of the discipline.
The Society for the Study of Theology is therefore committed to making itself ‘a community for all scholars and students of theology, and its annual conference a forum where a diverse breadth of backgrounds, experiences, traditions, theological questions, topics, and ways of pursuing them are welcomed’. At this year’s conference a plenary discussion will highlight the ways in which the discipline’s history makes it uniquely vulnerable to exclusionary claims and practices. We recognize a responsibility to ensure that the theological academy stops replicating logics that are harmful and violent to those who have been historically silenced.
We encourage departments, subject areas, and faculties that include the study of theology to reflect on their practice and to consider active ways in which they might work to enable genuinely inclusive academic discourse, and to build academic communities in which no members experience exclusion on the basis of their race, gender, sexuality, disability, caste, or class. Formulating and adopting appropriate statements committing to this task may be a useful initial step. The task of acting appropriately in the light of such commitments is the crucial, but much harder test. Such work is not only a move towards truth and justice; it is also an activity of love.
Signed by,
The Executive Committee of the Society for the Study of Theology:
Calida Chu
David Clough
Katie Cross
Mike Higton
Emily Kempson
Nina Kurlberg
Joanna Leidenhag
Jenny Leith
Dulcie McKenzie
Andrew Taylor
Anthony Reddie
Gifford Rhamie
Anupama Ranawana
To note any comment or concern regarding this statement, please email the Executive Committee on : admin@theologysociety.org.uk. Any students or staff from UKME/GMH backgrounds looking to find support and pastoral care on the issues detailed above, please feel free to contact Anupama Ranawana, Asst Secretary for Theology and Race via email: a.m.ranawana@outlook.com
