God and Community Organizing - by Hak Joon Lee (Hardcover)

About the Book

Finally, Lee explores the political and moral meanings and implications of his study for the current struggle against the neoliberal corporate oligarchy by presenting covenantal organizing as an alternative political philosophy and practice to secular liberal philosophy, postmodernism, identity politics, and communitarianism.

Book Synopsis

For decades, the multiple, interlocking forces of technological advances, neoliberal capitalism, and globalization have been transforming the very moral fabric and institutional underpinnings of global society. The effects of these challenges include soaring economic inequality, a widely experienced social fragmentation, and increasing disenchantment with liberal democracy and its social arrangements. This unraveling can be seen in the rise of illiberal democracy, a deepening ecological crisis, and failures of governance in coping with natural disasters and social tumults alike.

In response to this crisis of democracy and eroding community, a growing number of people have been attracted to Saul D. Alinsky's grassroots method of community organizing.

God and Community Organizing: A Covenantal Approach is written in this cultural milieu; it brings Alinsky's community organizing into conversation with the biblical vision of of covenant. Hak Joon Lee argues that, theologically, covenant reflects the life of the triune God who eternally organizes Godself as the Father, Son, and Spirit, while politically, covenant captures the inherent passion for justice that underlies Jewish and Christian faith. At its heart is the attempt to structure a wholesome, close-knit community of love, justice, and power. He points out that not only is covenant instrumental in the formation of God's people as a community, but the concept has also played an important role in the rise of modern Western ideas
of democracy, constitutionalism, and human rights.

To demonstrate the political plausibility of covenantal organizing, Lee incorporates four examples of covenantal organizing in different historical and social contexts: Exodus, Jesus, Puritans, and Martin Luther King Jr. Critically engaging with Saul Alinsky's method, Lee seeks to highlight how the
two different streams of political praxis--covenantal organizing and Alinsky's community organizing--can complement each other to develop a more vigorous and effective method of faith-based community organizing.

Finally, Lee explores the political and moral meanings and implications of his study for the current struggle against the neoliberal corporate oligarchy by presenting covenantal organizing as an alternative political philosophy and practice to secular liberal philosophy, postmodernism, identity politics, and communitarianism.

Review Quotes

There is an intimate relationship between institution and covenant, for institutions as diverse as scout groups, marriages, trade unions and churches are what emerge whenever human beings agree to be faithful to one another across time. Drawing on the work of Jeffrey Stout, Lee makes a powerful case for the vital role of institutions - and most particu-larly religious congregations--in the struggle for social justice.

--Angus Ritchie "Modern Believing"

God and Community Organizing offers a compelling case for a renewed understanding of covenant and its potential as a resource for both Christians and non-Christians in organizing for a more just world.

--Kevin Ahern "Studies in Christian Ethics"

Lee has provided a monumental contribution to public theology by drawing from biblical, theological, historical, and cultural resources to weave a holistically formed ethic for engaging the various crises plaguing the world. The ubiquitous call for social action, urgency, and revolution, rarely finds clear method and strategy on offer. Lee's covenantal organizing, emphasizing grassroots agency and communal commitment, offers clear method and strategy with a vision of voluntary, non-hierarchical communities based on justice, love, and reconciliation.

--Dylan Parker "International Journal of Public Theology"

About the Author

Hak Joon Lee is Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary.