Revd Dr Hebden Keith - Dalit Theology and Christian Anarchism

DALIT THEOLOGY AND CHRISTIAN ANARCHISM

A second generation of emerging Dalit theology texts is re-shaping the way we think of Indian theology and liberation theology. This book is a vital part of that conversation. Taking post-colonial criticism to its logical end of criticism of statism, Keith Hebden looks at the way the emergence of India as a nation state shapes political and religious ideas. He takes a critical look at these Gods of the modern age and asks how Christians from marginalised communities might resist the temptation to be co-opted into the statist ideologies and competition for power. He does this by drawing on historical trends, Christian anarchist voices, and the religious experiences of indigenous Indians. Hebdens ability to bring together such different and challenging perspectives opens up radical new thinking in Dalit theology, inviting the Indian Church to resist the Hindu fundamentalists labelling of the Church as foreign by embracing and celebrating the anarchic foreignness of a Dalit Christian future.

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KEITH HEBDEN
Gloucester Diocese, Church of England, UK

ASHGATE

Keith Hebden 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

Keith Hebden has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Hebden, Keith.

Dalit theology and Christian anarchism. (Ashgate new critical thinking in religion, theology and biblical studies) 1. TheologyIndia. 2. Liberation theologyIndia. 3. Christianity and cultureIndia. 4. Christianity and politicsIndia. 5. DalitsIndiaReligion.
I. Title II. Series
270.086940954dc22

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hebden, Keith.

Dalit theology and Christian anarchism / Keith Hebden.

p. cm. (New critical thinking in religion, theology, and biblical studies)

Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-2439-0 (hardcover:alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4094-2440-6 (ebook) 1. DalitsIndiaReligion. 2. Liberation theology India. 3. Christian anarchism.
I. Title.
BR1155.H43 2011
230.04640954dc22

2010053012

ISBN 9781409424390 (hbk)
ISBN 9781409424406 (ebk)
ISBN 9781409481478 (ebk-ePUB)

Dedicated to Peter Hebden 19442009

The role of the state in Dalit emancipation is emerging as a contentious topic of debate in the larger Dalit discourse. There are some who argue that it is the responsibility of the state to act in favour of the Dalit communities. Within this framework the Dalit movements creatively engage with the state to fulfil this role. On the other hand, those who approach the state from a more instrumentalist position viewing it as an arm of the powerful classes would argue that by its very nature the state acts on behalf of the powerful. They work to expose the instrumentalist nature of the state to coerce it to act in favour of those who are marginalised.

At its basis, however, both positions assume the state as a given. It is exactly here that Keith Hebden offers the fresh insight of Christian Anarchism, inviting Dalit ideology and theology to rethink the role of the state and its theological legitimisation. He calls on Dalit theology to perceive the state itself as a colonial construct and to draw from anarchist ideas, both indigenous as well as from the Christian tradition, as valid resources for Dalit emancipation. In doing so he not only undercuts notions of Indian nationalism that equate Indian with Hindu with Brahmanism, but also offers Dalit theology the possibility of creating new paradigms for transforming Indian life.