Christian Büschges - Böcker

Looking beyond prominent figures or major ecclesial events, Liberation Theology and the Others offers a fresh historical perspective on Latin American liberation theology. Thirteen case studies, from Mexico to Uruguay, depict a vivid picture of religious and lay activism that shaped the profile of the Latin American Catholic Church in the second half of the 20th century. Stressing the transnational character of Catholic activism and its intersections with prevalent discourses of citizenship, ethnicity or development, scholars from Latin America, the US, and Europe, analyze how pastoral renewal was debated and embraced in multiple local and culturally diverse contexts. Contributors explore the connections between Latin American liberation theology and anthropology in Peru, armed revolutionaries in highland Guatemala, and the implementation of neoliberalism in Bolivia. They identify conceptions of the popular church, indigenous religiosity, women’s leadership, and student activism that circulated among Latin American religious and lay activists between the 1960s and the 1980s. By revisiting the multifaceted and oftentimes contingent nature of church reforms, this edited volume provides fascinating new insights into one of the most controversial religious movements of the 20th century.

Although hip hop is now a well-established global music genre and cultural form, its history and current impact have not yet been sufficiently studied. The interdisciplinary contributions to this volume address hip hop's historical and regional struggles for representation of race, gender, generation, place, and language, as well as the tension between authenticity and commercialization. Contributors offer approaches to historicizing hip-hop culture, and present new theoretical perspectives and methodological tools for addressing hip hop's global impact. This volume targets not only scholars and students but also resonates with recent public debates about identity politics and cultural appropriation.