BOOK
AFTERTHEPROTESTSARE HEARD:ENACTINGCIVIC ENGAGEMENTANDSOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
BySharonD.Welch,NewYork UniversityPress,2019.SharonD.Welchisaseniorscholar whohaslivedhervaluesbothprofessionallyandpersonally.Thisbookis thefruitionofarichandproductive life:nearlyfortyyearsteachingreligion andethicsatseveraluniversities, includingHarvardDivinitySchool, UniversityofMissouri,andMeadville LombardTheologicalSeminary;twelve yearsofservinginadministrative capacities,includingasdepartment chairandprovost;sixbooks;thirty-six publishedarticles;andcountlesshours ofpublicservicefororganizationsand progressivenon-profits.
Groundedinliberationtheology andfeministethics, AftertheProtestsAre Heard traversesrichhistorical,theoretical,andpracticalterritory.Itisboth visionaryandpragmatic,presenting dauntingchallengestomeetloftygoals. Welchoutlinesthehistoricaltrajectory ofmovementsfordemocraticandprogressivesocialchange.Theoretically, whileremaininggroundedintheologicalandethicalconcerns,herwork crossesdisciplinaryboundaries,ranging frompoliticalphilosophyandsociology toAfricanAmericanspiritualityand indigenousreligionsandcultures. Manyevocativethemesarediscussed,including “thesoulof
democracy,” whichisatriskinthis timeofexploitativecapitalism,authoritarianism,andsocialregression;and “ourWindigos,” sevenintrinsicevils basedongreedandisolationthatare drivingthesepolitical,social,andeconomicprocesses.Whileofferingsuch powerfulhistoricalandtheoretical analyses,Welch’sbookisalsopragmatic:Sheusesreal-worldexamples frombusinessesandnon-profitsto highlightgoodworkbasedonethical valuesofreciprocity,generosity,and forgiveness.Wegettoknowpeopleat workintheworldwhowanttofoster change.
Welch’sbookcanaffecttheway oneapproachesresearchandconstructs teaching.Intermsofresearchmethods, Welchdemonstratesskillfulintegration ofhistorical,theoretical,andpractical perspectives,alongsidefirst-person writing,hortatorymessaging,interviews,andcollaboration.Inparticular, herworkwithReverendLyndaSutherlandconcludeswithapowerful “Just LivingPassport” thatisbeingused withinthenon-profitsectorandthatis afineresourceforbothundergraduate andgraduatecoursesintheologyand ethics.WhenIfirstreadthis “Passport,” Iimmediatelybegantomuse abouthowtoengagewithothersabout itsthemes.
WelchhasalonghistoryofworkingwiththeEngagementScholarship Consortium,agroupofuniversitiesand collegesthatarecommittedtonew pedagogicalmodels.Afundamental
goalofthisworkiscreatingmutually beneficialpartnershipsamongfaculty, students,andlocalcommunitiesto solvepressingsocialissues.Giventhe magnitudeofourchallenges,helping studentsundertakedeeplearningoffers themawaynotonlytoreceiveand graspnewinformation,butalsoto challengepreconceivednotionsbehind priorpatterns,assumptions,andconvictions.Helpingstudents,andallof us,tobewaryofmoraldisengagement waysthatevendecenthumanbeings maycommitandjustifybehaviorsthat wewouldotherwiseconsidermorally abhorrent iscrucial(159).Andnotto fallpreytodespairwhenweare stronglyawareofboththemagnitude ofthesocialproblemsweface and simultaneouslyknowthateffortsto resolvethemcannotmeasureuptothe intensityoftheseissuesisaworthy personalandpedagogicalgoal.As Welchputitsosuccinctly, “ ... oureducationalmodelisgroundedinservice, andgroundedininsightsfromengaged Buddhism,NativeAmericantraditions, andfeministtheory:wedonotthink ourselvesintonewwaysofacting,but actourselvesintonewwaysofthinking andbeing” (162).
Forme,oneofthemostengaging, andtooshort,sectionsofthisbook concernsaltermodernityandrelational aesthetics.CoinedbyNicolasBourriaud in2002,thetermaltermodernnames “anemergingglobalformation,ashift inpolitics,aesthetics,andculture shapedequallybyLatinAmerica,Asia, Africa,andtheWest” (181).Newinterculturalconnectionsarefuelingboth
artisticandpublicprojects;andWelch discussespublicartistTheasterGates’s workinChicago,St.Louis,andelsewhereasanexampleofintegrating issuesofrace,aesthetics,andethicson theliteralground.Likeotherpublic andcommunityartists,Gatesembraces a “post-studio” ethos,workingalongsideothersonlargeprojectsrelatedto spaceandlandreclamation.AsWelch wroteneartheendofthebook, “A societythattrulyvaluesallisgenuinely betterforall:itovercomestheisolation andarroganceofclass-andrace-based socialsystems;itembodiesthejoyand creativityofplentitude,reciprocity,and generativeinterdependence” (191).
AftertheProtestsAreHeard differs significantlyfromestablishedclassics inliberationtheologyandethics.In GustavoGutierrez’s ATheologyofLiberation, publishedin1973,hedescribes howthetheologyofliberationfrees theoppressedfromtheirexploitation andmarginalization,andtheoppressor fromtheirisolation,alienation,and arrogance.Welch’sworkisatheology ofliberationorliberationethicsfor peoplewhoseetheirroleinoppressive systemsandaretryingtoaddressour isolation,alienation,andarrogance. Thisfocusisalsoacontrasttothe approachtakenbyReinholdNiebuhr’s 1932 MoralManandImmoralSociety.
AftertheProtestsAreHeard buildson theworkofKatieCannon’s Black WomanistEthics (2006)andMonicaColeman’s MakingaWayOutofNoWay:A WomanistTheology (2008).Welch’swritingispartofatrajectoryofwhitefeministethicistsandtheologianswho
addressbothsexismandthewaysin whichwhitewomenarecaughtupin racism.ScholarssuchasRosemaryRadfordRuetherandCarterHeyward helpedtoshapethisarena.Welchtakes uptheworkthatJamesConeurgedus todoinhis2013book TheCrossandthe LynchingTree.Inthatbook,Coneasked readerstowrestlewithhowtohealthe deepwoundsthatlynchinghascaused. EthicistandtheologianGaryDorrien describedhowWelch’searlierbooksfit intothelargertrajectoryofsocial ethicsinhis SocialEthicsintheMaking (2011),and AftertheProtestsAreHeard extendsthisearlierwork.Finally,followingDietrichBonhoeffer,Welchis tryingtounderstandandfindnew waystoconfrontrisingauthoritarianism,whichiscrucialinourcurrent nationalandinternationalpoliticaland educationalcontext.
Certainly,therearepresentlymany otherscholarsworkinganalogous ground.Insignificanceandgraceof writingandargumentation,Iwould compareWelch’sbookfavorablyto booksbyafewofherpeers:MiguelDe LaTorre, BuryingWhitePrivilege:ResurrectingaBadassChristianity,2018;Robin
DiAngelo, WhiteFragility:WhyIt’sSo HardforWhitePeopletoTalkaboutRacism, 2018;RobinWallKimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass:IndigenousWisdom,Scientific Knowledge,andtheTeachingsofPlants, 2013;NormanFischer, TheWorldCould BeOtherwise:ImaginationandtheBodhisattvaPath,2019;AnthonyPinn, Humanism:EssaysinRace,Religion,and CulturalProduction,2015;andSharon Schuman, FreedomandDialogueina PolarizedWorld,2014.Allofthesebooks addressissuesofracism,cultural biases,andpolarization,butIfind SharonWelch’scritical and constructiveapproachtobepassionateand unique.
AftertheProtestsAreHeard:Enacting CivicEngagementandSocialTransformation openswithprofoundquestionsand perspectivesandendswithaprayer thatrevealsitstheologicalandethical foundations: “ aprayer[that]hearts andmindsandwillsopentothegenuineplenitudethatgracesourworld, andequallyopentogrowingthreats anddanger.Mayourgroundinginthe formergiveusthecatalyticpowerto confrontthelatter.”
DeborahJ.Haynes