'The past is not a husk yet change goes on': Reimagining (feminist) theology

Abstract

‘Feminism’ is still often dismissed as an outmoded or discredited concept; out of touch with the feelings and desires of real women and men or antithetical to any proper vision of Christianity. So for the feminist theologian it is as important as ever to find ways of discriminating between truth and falsity and discerning a future path. In this piece I have begun to try articulating one possible feminist approach using insights from the work of philosophers Deleuze & Guattari – particularly on assemblages - and from the work of poet and theorist Adrienne Rich on revisioning. It is my sense that these tools may be able to help provide feminist theologians with the support we undoubtedly need if we are genuinely to be able to acknowledge the weight of our pasts and the risk of our futures without becoming overwhelmed or immobilised in a context which remains decidedly challenging.