Gender, Race, Religion: De/Constructing Regimes of In/Visibility (Journal of the Euopean Society of Women in Theological Research / Revista de la . fur theologische Forschung von Frauen)

The ESWTR conference in Leuven in 2019 dealt with the intersection ofgender, race, and religion and asked for the de-/construction of regimesof visibility and invisibility. By discussing these three concepts inrelationship to each other, underlying patterns of privilege andoppression in a society can be uncovered.

The concepts "gender, race, and religion" are not static ideas, butprocesses in society. They are constructed in social interaction, through discourses and practices--what implies that their meaning canalso be deconstructed. The construction is the result of powerprocesses. These create what is considered an appropriate way to expressone's religion, what should be visible and what not, although very oftenthe processes of "religionization" and "racialization" remain hidden, sometimes concealed by so-called good intentions. What is made visibleand invisible is the result of choices that serve particular interests.

In malestream theology this is a blind spot. However, there are manytheological themes at stake here. The question is how theologians canhelp to make the underlying patterns and processes of "genderisation,"and "religionization" (more) visible in order to contribute to theflourishing of everyone and to more justice in society. This is what thecontributions of this volume try to do, in their analysis of theintersection of gender and religion (and race) in different contexts.