Interventions is a space for students, scholars, clergy, and activists to write and collaborate on practical and theological approaches to issues of economy, ecology, religion, and justice.
Listening to the Spirit
People organize to protect and fight for what they hold sacred. Organizing works by building relational power grounded in values and relationships. Issue wins are vital - building radically democratic power is at the heart of organizing, but the first step to building political and economic power is building radically democratic relationships. Because of the crucial role of sacred value in organizing, some organizing practices are religious practices. This forum presents five different engagements with Stauffer’s new book, exploring what changes in organizing once relational power and sacred values are foregrounded in the practice. At the end, Stauffer offers a final reflection on the book and the work of organizing and theology in the Capitalocene.
Take Back the Land
November 2023
This forum focuses on the distinct story of Rochdale and Delta Cooperative Farms (later named Providence Farms) in Mississippi, founded by social gospel movement leaders in the 1930s and 40s. The distinct political and economic vision here was inspired by cooperative economics and political democracy. The uniqueness of this project was its focus on cooperatives as a way to build economic power against racial and plantation capitalism in the south.
THEOLOGY IN THE CAPITALOCENE
September 2022
People who have to work for a living are hungry for alternatives, but not just any alternatives. We are hungry for alternatives that offer a viable economic, political, ecological, and religious future.
Joerg Rieger has come out with a fascinating new book, Theology in the Capitalocene: Ecology, Identity, Class, and Solidarity (Fortress Press) that analyzes what it is people who have to work for a living are up against and how we can build a viable alternative through deep solidarity. This forum brings together top theologians…
Social Gospel in the South
October 2023
This project aims to research the Social Gospel legacy of Vanderbilt Divinity School in the early decades of the twentieth century and to tell that story to a broad audience. Although the Social Gospel movement has attracted growing attention in recent years, the Vanderbilt story is largely unknown and untold. Vanderbilt Divinity’s designation as “school of the prophets” derives from this period, as it was an important intellectual and educational hub.
In this first forum, we turn to historians and labor organizers in order to set the stage for future conversations to come.
Resource Library
Check out our resource library — the sortable one-stop shop for all things Wendland-Cook Program. Here we have all of our Interventions Forums, Statements, Blogs, Webinars, Interviews, Toolkits, and more. Check it out!