The Political Theology Network is an organizing network for scholars, activists, community leaders who are interested in promoting the publicly engaged, interdisciplinary study of religion and politics. The field of political theology attends to the connections between religious and political ideas and practices, placing scholarship on religion in dialogue with scholarship from the fields of politics, philosophy, ethics, cultural studies, and critical theory. PTN functions as a hub for organizing and promoting this scholarship, while forming connections beyond the academy among theologians, practitioners, and humanities scholars. PTN’s main activities include the journal Political Theology, our public-facing blog at politicaltheology.com, our podcast (Assembly), a national conference, and a regular offering of workshops, mentoring programs, and funding opportunities. The Political Theology Network is housed at Villanova University’s Center for Political Theology and is supported by Villanova as well as by Network members.
You can find our Points of Unity here.
If you are looking for the academic journal Political Theology, published eight times per year by Taylor & Francis and a cornerstone of the Political Theology Network, you can go here.
FAQs:
What is political theology?
Political theology is a vibrant, interdisciplinary field of scholarship investigating deep connections between religion and politics. Scholars of Christian theology, religious studies, and critical theory have brought great energy to the field, investigating not only connections between ideas about God and ideas about the sovereign, but also connections between religious and political notions of law, justice, love, hope, and tradition—in theory and in practice. Increasingly, the field of political theology is motivated by questions of global interest and import. The field is attracting great interest, particularly among younger scholars, who have brought into question what counts as political theology and have pushed the field into exciting and diverse new directions. Scholars interested in political theology challenge the line between secular and sacred, as secular scholars ask about the religious origins of critique and even capitalism, while Christian theologians increasingly draw on methods of critique developed in secular academic spaces.
Do I have to be a theologian?
No! Scholars and students from across the humanities and social sciences are interested in the interdisciplinary field of political theology. Activists, theologians, historians, religious studies scholars, philosophers, political scientists and political organizers, faith leaders, ethicists, and critical theorists are all involved in our ongoing conversation around religion and politics.
Is the Political Theology Network Christian?
We are committed to nurturing a community that includes those whose interests are in a variety of religious traditions, whether or not they identify as members of those traditions. We also welcome those whose primary interests are theoretical.
Do I have to be a student or professor?
No! While some of our activities are geared toward those in the academy, we have a number of public-facing activities, and we welcome into our community activists, religious leaders, those in the non-profit sector, and members of the general public.
How do I get involved?
We invite you to become a member of PTN. (It’s free; the membership registration is available here, and you will start receiving our newsletter.) You can participate in one of our upcoming events. You can check out our podcast or read the latest article on our blog. You could submit your writing to our well-read website or to our field-leading journal Political Theology.