Postcolonial missiology in the face of empire: in dialogue with Frantz Fanon and Steve Bantu Biko
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Authors
Nel, Reginald Wilfred,1966-
Issue Date
2011-12
Type
Article
Language
en
Keywords
Postcolonial theology , Empire , Accra Confession , System of dominance , Missiology , Colonial history , African anti-colonial , Steve Bantu Biko , Frantz Fanon , South African Black Theology , Black Consciousness Movement (South Africa)
Alternative Title
Abstract
The challenges of neo-colonialism challenge academics and
clergy alike to search for an alternative to what the Accra Confession
declares as empire. For the Accra Confession, empire
means the specific coming together of economic, cultural, political
and military imperial power as a “system of dominance”
to protect the interest of the powerful. The question is whether
Missiology, given her colonial history and official collusion to
imperialism, still has a role to play in the context of overcoming
imperialism, today. I argue that the future of a postcolonial
Missiology, in the face of empire, depends on a crosscutting
dialogue with interlocutors, who engage this legacy
head on. Has the critique from African anti-colonial thinkers
been engaged in the development of a postcolonial Missiology
for our time? Here I highlight the challenge of two younger
voices, namely Steve Bantu Biko and Frantz Fanon, in particular
in the publications, ‘I write what I like’ and ‘The
Wretched of the Earth’, respectively, as they engage colonialism
and imperialism, but more so, as they influenced South
African Black Theology. This I argue is an overdue dialogue,
in our ongoing quest for developing a truly postcolonial
Missiology.
Description
Peer reviewed.
Citation
Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae, vol 37, Supplement, pp 157-170
Publisher
Church History Society of Southern Africa
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
10170499