| abstract |
Christian resistance in the Philippines, occurring especially in the late twentieth century, created unique forms of decolonizing ethics that have too often been erased in most narratives of colonial history. My dissertation focuses on pedagogical strategies of unlearning and communal innovation developed in the Philippines, particularly through the theology of struggle and ecumenical women's movements of the 1970s-90s. I develop liberative Christian ethics informed by the complexity and utility of this kind of knowledge as well as the skillfulness and courage of the leaders who created it. The innovative concepts, methods and contributions of Pilipinx leaders during the 1970s-90s exemplify decolonizing praxis needed for decolonizing Christian ethics that attends to U.S.-based colonial Christianity and global politics. My argument includes excavation of unique gender dynamics in the production of theological resistance. Emerging simultaneously with theology of struggle writings was an ecumenical women's movement committed to unlearning patriarchy and innovating feminist, liberationist Christian faith practices.
In its constructive vision, this dissertation argues that decolonial hope must be lived out as praxis, and that central to decolonial hope as praxis is recognizing the importance of centering this erased communal history of resistance, including silenced, unappreciated women's knowledge as unconventional sources of resistance ethics. In response to the erasure of this knowledge, I assert that faith-based, transformational resistance ethics is crafted from a particular history of resistance—examining faith voices, strategies, courage, insights, risks, locating the site of colonialism as the site of resistance, and arguing that all of this history and sources are valuable pedagogical tools for communal transformation, particularly for communities of formerly colonized peoples. A decolonizing ethical method asserts that colonial Christianity does not have the final say, and that hope emerges from people's struggles for dignity and freedom.
|
