Postcolonial and decolonial studies are generating more and more interest. In the last two decades, a diverse reception of these critical ways of thinking has developed worldwide, including in theology. This textbook aims at providing a fundamental insight into this diverse movement that is discussed globally. In recent years, various attempts have developed in different contexts and language areas around the world to make the learning progress of postcolonial studies fruitful for theology. This introduction takes up many of these examples and organizes them according to a structure based on central terms and methods of postcolonial studies. Numerous examples, literature references, and featured authors encourage readers to delve deeper into individual subject areas and/or authors. Finally, the book is also dedicated to possible consequences for theology and the church in Western contexts.
Stefan Silber teaches systematic theology at the University of Vechta (Germany). He was professor at the Catholic University of Paderborn (2018–22) and is visiting professor at various universities in Latin America. He specializes in liberation and postcolonial theologies.
“Stefan Silber with his hybrid German-Latin American perspective offers a unique panorama of creative possibilities that postcolonial thinking brings to theology. With keen awareness of cultural complexities, he elegantly weaves together decolonial and postcolonial discourses. The result is a ‘mosaic-style pattern’ of theology in which indigenous voices also contribute to giving postcolonial theology a crucial ecological touch.”
—Michael Nausner, affiliated professor of systematic theology, University College Stockholm
“While postcolonial and decolonial discourses are still relatively new, especially in theological studies, the realities of various colonialisms have been with us much longer. As scholars of theology and religion come to grips with how their fields have been and continue to be profoundly influenced by these dynamics, Stefan Silber’s introduction maps the most important developments and calls for an end to business as usual, starting with the colonial centers of Europe and, by extension, the United States.”
—Joerg Rieger, distinguished professor of theology, Vanderbilt University
“Embedded in a deep dialogue between European and Latin American theology, this book offers a lucid and nuanced introduction into the growing field of postcolonial and decolonial theologies. Exploring key concepts and authors, it demonstrates the enormous potential these approaches have to critically rethink the task of theology in an age of complex planetary interdependencies. Constantly problematizing the context from which it is written, it also testifies to postcolonial approaches’ power to unsettle the sovereign perspective of white Western theologies from within.”
—Sebastian Pittl, dean of studies, Faculty of Catholic Studies, University of Tübingen
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