Beyond Empire
Postcolonialism & Mission in a Global Context
by
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Beyond Empire: Postcolonialism and Mission in a Global Context
'Postcolonialism' sounds like one of those academic topics only of interest to specialists. In fact postcolonial studies are a vital attempt to understand the world in the light of movements and changes which have affected us all. In one sense we have left behind us 'the age of Empire', but in another the issues that colonialism has handed down to us - the disparities between rich and poor nations, worldwide migration, the erosion of traditional societies, hybridity, urban bloat and the like - are still centre stage. Add to this the questions: how do we read the Bible and apply our theology in such a world and it will be apparent that 'Beyond Empire' is a book that atempts to challenge the church to tackle the big world issues and to think about mission in a new way.
The main headings give some idea of its scope:
Introduction: why postcolonialism?
Struggling free from the colonial past
New formations
What next for mission?
The Great Economy
Postcolonialism: a gift from the sponsor of world mission
Conclusion: time to wake up
Because of its wide scope the book will be of interest not just to theologians and missiologists but to all thinking Christians who are concerned to live authentically in the twenty first century. It also has a wide geographical reference. Christians in the affluent West are meant to be challenged by it, but so are those in the Global South.
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About the Book
Christian mission has been linked for good and ill with colonialism. But what is its relation to postcolonialsm, to a world which has gone 'beyond empire' but has not necessarily fully taken into account its colonial past? Postcolonialism offers a lens through which we can re-read Scripture and re-view the history of our times. Topics such as migration, the fate of indigenous peoples, hybridity, the postcolonial city, development, and many more, come into focus in this book. The discussion then leads naturally to a fresh expression of the nature of the Kingdom of God and the mission of the church.
About the Author
Jonathan Ingleby studied history at Oxford and theology at Union Biblical Seminary in Pune. He worked in education for twenty years in India and subsequently became Head of Mission Studies at Redcliffe College in the UK, where he taught applied theology and mission at graduate and postgraduate level. His doctoral studies were in the history of mission and he has recently specialised in the relationship between Christian mission, globalisation and postcolonialism.