The Spooky Politics of Dark Truths

As social theory garners cache in departments of Religious Studies, scholars find themselves unclear about how to address the notion of truth. This paper approaches truth as an opportunity to explain the role of truth-claims in erecting and razing social boundaries. It begins by reframing or "s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religion & theology
Main Author: Newton, Richard 1983- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill [2018]
In: Religion & theology
Further subjects:B public intellectuals
B Religious Studies
B Monuments
B Race
B Identity
B Signification
B Social Theory
B Truth
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Description
Summary:As social theory garners cache in departments of Religious Studies, scholars find themselves unclear about how to address the notion of truth. This paper approaches truth as an opportunity to explain the role of truth-claims in erecting and razing social boundaries. It begins by reframing or "signifying on" Alan Race's typology of exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism in order to register social formations rather than soteriological criteria. Then it reviews moments in African American cultural history in order to explain the ways people mediate identity politics though truth-claims. Readers will visit three, race-centered debates over memorials on college campuses in the United States of America as case studies for demonstrating this perspectival shift. In so doing, the paper presents an alternative model for the kind of analytical social commentary Religious Studies scholars may provide their publics.
ISSN:1574-3012
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion & theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15743012-02503007