Religion as Gender Politics : Theology, Feminism and Continental Philosophy

In this open access work, Hampson explores her contention that religion is in essence a gender politics, its patterns of thought and sacraments designed to justify gender hierarchy. Given that, in a post-Enlightenment age, the Christian claim to a unique, interventionary, revelation cannot stand, why have the Abrahamic religions (more particularly Christianity) taken the form that they have? Building on previous work, the author considers transcendent monotheism and the symbols, language and dogmas of religion through this lens. Furthermore, Christian ethics is incommensurate with present-day and feminist ideals. Hampson draws throughout on insights present in Continental philosophy, from Hegel through Feuerbach to Derrida and French feminist theory. She turns to the implications that such a gender politics has had for society. But if the Christian myth – for all its failings – has been that vehicle through which people have channelled their love of God and spirituality the question arises as to how we best conceptualise God in an age in which the myth is obsolescent.

This is a provocative, hard-hitting book, that makes a fundamental contribution to understanding the entanglement of religion with gender. Yet Hampson is an apologist for spirituality that is epistemologically cogent and ethically viable today. It may well prove a landmark book.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.