Nature and the native
Critics of climate collapse and colonization in the Americas rightly identify the origin of these twin crises in early modern political theologies. They seek to combat these crises with new political theologies of nature that pay greater reverence to “native” peoples’ ecological knowledge. But in do...
| Published in: | Critical research on religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
2022
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| In: |
Critical research on religion
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Casas, Bartolomé de las 1484-1566
/ Harriot, Thomas 1560-1621
/ Indians
/ Understanding of nature
/ Political theology
/ Environmental consciousness
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| RelBib Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion BB Indigenous religions CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations CD Christianity and Culture CH Christianity and Society FD Contextual theology KBQ North America KBR Latin America |
| Further subjects: | B
religion and colonialism
B Climate Change B Science and religion B Indigenous Peoples B Natural Law B Political Theology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Critics of climate collapse and colonization in the Americas rightly identify the origin of these twin crises in early modern political theologies. They seek to combat these crises with new political theologies of nature that pay greater reverence to “native” peoples’ ecological knowledge. But in doing so, these critics subtly, perhaps unwittingly, recall elements of the colonial power they criticize. I explain why this is the case, examining Bartolomé de Las Casas’s use of naturales in his critiques of Spanish Conquest, and Thomas Harriot’s use of naturall inhabitants in his writing on English colonization to describe “native” Americans. Both authors aimed to promote politico-theological reverence for “native” peoples and their relationships with “nature.” This set into motion a productive form of power operating in modern political theologies. This power works by legitimizing the European-Christian presence in the Americas through their ability to recognize, respect, and protect “native” relationships with “nature.” |
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| ISSN: | 2050-3040 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Critical research on religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/20503032221075386 |