Event series International Talks
Religion and Social Justice. Reflections and Experiences from Latin America
The International Talks always take place during the semester. Always online. Always discussion format. Always socially relevant, international topics. The format includes an impulse with discussion, in which the participants can take part via chat. The talks get a special dynamic through the moderation of different experts. The International Talks are open to all students, colleagues and interested persons, especially including international students.
Religious legitimation of socio-economic oppression. Looking at Genesis 47.13-26 (The Joseph Story) (David Castillo Mora – Costa Rica)
Thursday, 5th of December 2024, 6:00 – 7:30 pm
The present conference deals with the instrumentalization of religious discourse – in this case the Bible – in the legitimation of socio-economic dynamics that legitimize exploitation. The Bible is, no doubt, the product of contending ideologies. In its pages readers find the support of oppressive monarchs as well as the dreams and hopes of dominated peoples. In that sense, we have in our hands a challenging text, product of social struggles and produced by the hands of groups interested in supporting their interests and power positions as well as their hopes for change and transformation.
This nature of the biblical text has been highly instrumentalized by groups and individuals throughout history, taking advantage of the position of the Bible as a sacred tradition in western cultures. Political systems, economic orders, as well as cultural values, among others, have been advanced and sanctified by biblical interpretations in many of our societies. The goal of this conference is to address this double dimension: the ideological aspect of the biblical text, as well as the interested usage of its content, on the specific theme of socio-economic oppression. Through the analysis of one section of the Joseph story, we will explore the ways ideologies of exploitation are embedded in biblical texts, legitimizing the hegemony and power of some groups and individuals over society. Additionally, we will briefly explore ways to avoid the reproduction of such ideologies, promoting biblical readings that question such models and suggest liberating approaches.
David Castillo Mora. Costa Rican. PhD. in Biblical Studies by the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. David is part of the biblical formation team at the Centro de Estudios y Relaciones Judeo-Cristianas from the Congregation of the Sisters of Sion in San Jose, Costa Rica, as well as faculty member of the Universidad Biblica Latinoamericana. David is also working in the area of religion and politics, and his interests are on Narrative Analysis of Biblical Texts, Ideological Criticism of the Bible, Sociological analysis, and the study of the intersection between religion and society.
Participation
All Talks will be realized as videoconference.
Zoom-Link
Access under the following link: https://eu01web.zoom.us/j/67600204763