Dissent As Restlessness : Essays on Church, Society, and the Performances of Resistance.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Okpaleke, Ikenna Paschal.

Series:

Theology and Mission in World Christianity Series

Theology and Mission in World Christianity Series ; v.45

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (219 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Boston : BRILL, 2026.

Summary:

This book explores dissent as intentional, critical, and public acts of resistance across various contexts, examining religious protests, ecclesiastical reform, political movements, and spiritual restlessness in contemporary Africa and beyond.

Contents:

Front Cover

Half Title

Series Information

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication Page

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Word Made Flesh: #EndSARS Protest and a Theology of Dissent from the Streets

1 The #EndSARS Narrative: a Campaign for Social Justice

2 #EndSARS as 'Word Made Flesh': Theology from, and on, the Streets

3 #EndSARS's Theology of Sórò Sókè: Transformation Begins with the Word

4 Was the #EndSARS Protest a Provocateur to Theological Engagement?

4.1 On the Provocation to Speak

4.2 On the Provocation to Act

5 Conclusion: Four Theological Statements for Social Transformation

Chapter 2 Public Disagreement in the Church: Exploring Religious Dissent within the Nigerian Political Setting

1 The Lead Story: Ahiara 2013

2 Assessing Religion and Dissent in Democratic Nigeria

3 Dissent in the History of Pluralistic Nigeria

4 Dissent and the Church in Nigeria

5 Turning to the Ahiara Episcopacy Protest of 2013

6 How the Ahiara Protest May Have Been Influenced by Political Protests

6.1 The Use of 'Place'

6.2 The Role of Digital Media

6.3 The Political Content

6.4 The Leadership Structure

7 On the Legality of Public Disagreement in the Church

8 Conclusion

Chapter 3 The Legitimacy of Dissent?: Tracing the Mutual Learning Points between Democracy and Ecclesiology

1 Comparing Dissent in Democratic and Ecclesial Institutions

1.1 On the Rationale of Dissent within Institutions

1.2 Dissent in Democratic Institutions

1.3 Dissent in Roman Catholic Ecclesiology

1.4 Dissent in Democracy and the Church: a Presentation of Parallel Instances

2 Defying the State on the Grounds of Racial Justice: the Story of the Black Lives Matter Movement

2.1 State-Sponsored Mechanisms for Discrediting the BLM.

2.2 Unsustainable Attitude of the State towards the Legitimate Concerns of the BLM

2.3 State-Organized Covert Repression and Profiling of the BLM

3 It's about Theology and Every Other Thing: the Liberation Theology Movement Narrative

3.1 Attempts to Discredit the Liberation Theology Movement

3.2 Attempts at Silencing Leading Supporters of Liberation Theology

3.3 Shifting Moments, Shifting Grounds

4 Is There Any Case for Mutuality in Comparing Dissent in Institutions?

5 Conclusion: Insights on the Grounds for Mutual Learning

Chapter 4 Ecumenism as a Form of Dissent: Exploring Intra-Christian Engagement in Nigeria

1 The Relationship between Ecumenism and Dissent

2 The Nigeria-Biafra War and the Dissent of Collapsed Boundaries

3 Historicizing the Christian Association of Nigeria as a Political Resistive Agent

4 Juggling a Double Responsibility

5 Conclusion: from Ecumenical Resistance to Ecumenism as Dissent

Chapter 5 "Like Shoots of Olive": Facing the Restlessness of the Catholic New Young

1 To the African Church: What of Your Young People?

2 Pope Francis' Christus Vivit and the Praxis of Youth Ministry

2.1 With Regard to Outreach

2.2 With Regard to Growth

3 Youth Identity and the Crisis of Spirituality

4 Territories of Reform

4.1 Notes on Catechetical Formation

4.2 Notes on Ecumenical Matters

4.3 Notes on Leadership and Political Participation

4.4 Notes on the Challenges of Economic Reality

4.5 Notes on the Question of Cultural Identity

5 Conclusion

Chapter 6 Holy Ghost Fire!: Resistive Pneumatology in African Pentecostal Movements

1 What Is Resistive Pneumatology?

2 Pentecostal Movements Africa: Offsprings of Dissent

3 Ambiguous Relationship with African Spirituality

4 Tracing the Initial Roots of Dissension.

5 Manifestations of Resistive Pneumatology in African Pentecostalism

5.1 Ecclesiological Implications

5.2 Cultural Ambivalences

5.3 Political Engagements

6 Conclusion

Chapter 7 Of Skeptics and Believers: Synod on Synodality and the Burden of Resistance

1 Pope Francis and Synodality: the Hype and the Baseline

2 For the Young People, the Concern Is Spirituality

3 On the Ranks of Skeptics and Critics

4 Fighting on the Eve of the Synod on Synodality

5 Ideological Polarizations, Pseudo-Propheticism and Ecclesial Critics

Chapter 8 Keeping the Dead Alive: African Memorialization Project and the Resistance to Namelessness

1 From Auschwitz to the Search for Memorialization Consciousness

2 Memorialization Process, Exercised Collective Memory, and the African Philosophical Worldview

2.1 The Sociological Crisis of 'Collective Memory'

2.2 The Promise of the Dialectical African Worldview

3 Evaluating the African Union Human Rights Memorial (AUHRM)

4 Justifying Continental Memorialization, Recalibrating Its Forms

4.1 Making Case for an Effective Memorialization Culture

4.2 Narrowing the Memorialization Project into Three Forms

5 Reimagining New Ways of Memorialization in Africa

5.1 The Role of the Private Sector and Non-governmental Institutions

5.2 The Promotion of Alternative Historical Pedagogy through the New Media

5.3 Literature as a Relevant Method in Contemporary Discourse

Afterword

1 African Catholic Resistance and the Identity of a Theologian

1.1 The Theologian as Dissenter: Jean-Marc Ela's Model

2 Regarding Dissent in the Cyberspace

3 Theologies for Dissenters and Victims

3.1 Lamentation as Resistance

3.2 Memorialization as Continuing Resistance

3.3 Healing and Social Repair

4 Final Note

Bibliography

Index

Back Cover.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

90-04-75662-0

OCLC:

1591761512