Liberation Theologies in the United States

Liberation Theologies in the United States reveals how the critical use of religion can be utilized to challenge and combat oppression in America.

In the nascent United States, religion often functioned as a justifier of oppression. Yet while religious discourse buttressed such oppressive activities as slavery and the destruction of native populations, oppressed communities have also made use of religion to critique and challenge this abuse. As Liberation Theologies in the United States demonstrates, this critical use of religion has often taken the form of liberation theologies, which use primarily Christian principles to address questions of social justice, including racism, poverty, and other types of oppression.

Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas and Anthony B. Pinn have brought together a stellar group of liberation theology scholars to provide a synthetic introduction to the historical development, context, theory, and goals of a range of U.S.-born liberation theologies:

Black Theology—Anthony B. Pinn
Womanist Theology—Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas
Latina Theology—Nancy Pineda-Madrid
Hispanic/Latino(a) Theology—Benjamín Valentín
Asian American Theology—Andrew Sung Park
Asian American Feminist Theology—Grace Ji-Sun Kim
Native Feminist Theology—Andrea Smith
Native American Theology—George (Tink) Tinker
Gay and Lesbian Theology—Robert E. Shore-Goss
Feminist Theology—Mary McClintock Fulkerson

“An extraordinary resource for understanding the vitality of liberation theologies and their relation to social transformation in the changing U.S. context. Written in an accessible and engaged way, this powerful and informative text will inspire beginners and scholars alike. I highly recommend it."—Kwok Pui-lan, author of Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology

“A delight to read . . . [and] an exemplary account of the genre of liberation theologies." ―Religious Studies Review