The Concept of Periphery in Pope Francis’ Discourse: A Religious Alternative to Globalization?
Journal Title: Religions - Year 2015, Vol 6, Issue 1
Abstract
Since the beginning of his mandate, Pope Francis has used the concept of periphery as a metaphor of social marginality. However, the notion of periphery also seems to target the asymmetries generated by the liberal version of globalization. Pope Francis’ narrative has to be read in the broader context of the relation between religions and globalization. That interaction is usually conceptualized in terms of religions capitalizing on global “vectors”, such as new information and communication technologies, processes of political and institutional integration, shared cultural patterns, transnational phenomena and organizations. An alternative way to analyze the role of religions consists in considering them as agencies defending the perspective of a universal community, putting into question the national political boundaries and contesting the existing global order. Understood in those terms, the concept of periphery reveals to be a powerful rhetoric device, insofar as it suggests that it is possible to get a wider perspective of the current state of the world looking form the edge rather than from the center.
Authors and Affiliations
Pasquale Ferrara
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP25411
- DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6010042
- Views 337
- Downloads 8
The Historical Foundations of Religious Restrictions in Contemporary China
The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) abolished its total ban on religious activities in 1982. However, the distrust that the CCP feels for religions remains obvious today, and the religious restrictions in contempo...
“There Is a Higher Height in the Lord”: Music, Worship, and Communication with God
Music is so vital in the services of African American Baptist churches that there are few moments in the service when music—either congregational or choral singing, or instrumental music of some sort—is not being perfo...
Spiritual and Religious Issues in the Aftermath of Suicide
Spirituality and religion have only been marginally investigated in the experiences of the bereaved by suicide (or survivors of suicide). Aim: This article directly addresses two questions: In what way was spirituality...
Habermas and Religious Communication: The Insufficiency of the Translation Proviso
Much has been debated and written about the translation proviso, its implications, and its rationality. At its core, it is about communication and a transition in religious communication that means it can become secula...
How to be (the Author of) Born Again: Charles Colson and the Writing of Conversion in the Age of Evangelicalism
Charles Colson’s Born Again was the most celebrated spiritual memoir of the 1970s evangelical revival, and remains the best-known book-length conversion narrative of the twentieth century. Its account of how Colson—not...