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Food Systems and the World Food Crisis
- 1. Food Systems and theWorld Food Crisis
- 2. Food Systems and theWorld Food Crisis
- 3. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Our (still dominant) Modern Equation: Inattention to ends + faith in technical progress = Prodigious food producing technology & continued food insecurity for hundreds of millions
- 4. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Inattention to ends--a general critique a speedy trip to nowhere… The first enormous fact that springs from our civilization is that today everything has become “means”. There are no more “ends”. We no longer know towards what we we are heading. We have forgotten our collective goals. We have enormous means and we put into place prodigious machines in order to arrive nowhere… In this vicious cycle of unleashed means, no one knows where s/he is going, the goals are forgotten, the ends left aside. Humankind is moving ahead at astronomical speeds towards nothing.
- 5. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Inattention to ends--a general critique homo-economocus’ (homo-consumerus’) lack of telos In the ideology of the free market…(t)here are no common ends to which our desires are directed. In the absence of such ends, all that remains is the sheer arbitrary power of one will against another. Freedom thus gives way to the aggrandizement of power and the manipulation of will and desire by the greater power… Where there are no objectively desirable ends, and the individual is told to choose his or her own ends, then choice itself becomes the only thing that is inherently good. When there is a recession, we are told to buy things to get the economy moving; what we buy makes no difference. All desires, good and bad, melt into the one overriding imperative to consume, and we all stand under the one sacred canopy of consumption for its own sake.
- 6. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Inattention to ends--a general critique but…faith in progress What…is the goal of progress? Early in the twentieth century the economist Wesley Mitchell observed: “We all boast of progress but lack the insight to see that the term means nothing because we have not thought for what destination we are bound.” Our economic incentive system promotes continued technological change, but it does not encourage or welcome questions about its purpose… The capitalist system is like a massive eighteen-wheel truck barreling through history. It has an excessively powerful motor driven by the sum of human selfishness… As a passenger on this truck, are you inclined to ask where we are going?… We are working longer and rushing onward without deciding where we want to go… We have tried to avoid the issue by elevating progress to a matter of faith.
- 7. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Inattention to ends--a general critique the result--a “technique-focused” society of disconnected connectedness Jacques Ellul, French Sociologist, 1912-1994
- 8. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Inattention to ends--a general critique the result--a “technique-focused” society of disconnected connectedness Jacques Ellul, French Sociologist, 1912-1994
- 9. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Inattention to ends--a general critique a trip home
- 10. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Inattention to ends--a general critique a trip home
- 11. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Inattention to ends--a general critique a trip home Hi-t … ech he Nok lps Iran with ia S ian iem mon loca the tec ens Ne itor call l tel hno two ing e eph logy rk h half d the M one cal neede as conf of 2 ls d ir 008 onitorin . It tol to mon med it . gC d i s Nok ia S entr the BB tor, con upplied e to C Ger man iemens Iran that i trol, an Iran Inte Tele t sold d rea llige compa , a joint com a d 200 9 nt S nies ven in th produ firm to Per olution , suppl ture be e se ct con . usa s bu ied t twe en t d Part he s A sp ners siness, yste he F oke Fun whic m to innis arch d 1L h w I h s itec man d P, a as so ran thro and t e Ger l inte rcep ure that scribed man d in Ma ugh its t". the t inve rch He wor he syst stm add ld's em ent allo ed: gov as " w " ernm a sta func you t Wester ents ndar d tion o bu n go use ality ild n vern for ." etw m law orks ents, ful with incl out uding hav ing the UK this , do n't
- 12. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis So you may be asking yourself... Interesting, but what does any of this have to do with food, food systems and the world food crisis?
- 13. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Let me respond by asking you... What should the “ends” of our food system be?
- 14. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis How, in fact, have we come to define the “ends” What these systems of intensive production accomplish is to produce a lot of food, on a small amount of land at a very affordable price. Somebody explain to me, what’s wrong with that? Richard Lobb of the National Chicken Council speaking in the film Food, Inc.
- 15. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis It may be too late to avoid another bout of price rises. Despite a global recession and the largest grain harvest on record in 2008, food prices are heading up again. Still, countries have a brief window of opportunity in which to set long-term policy goals without being distracted by panic measures. They need to do two things: invest in the productive capacity of agriculture and improve the operation of food markets... Boosting world food production without gobbling up land and water will also require technology to play a larger role in the next 40 years than it has in the past 40, when people have been more or less living off the gains of the Green Revolution. Technology means a lot of things: drip irrigation, no-till farming, more efficient ways to use fertilisers and kill pests. But one way of raising yields stands out: developing genetically modified (GM) crops that, for example, use less water. From “How to Feed the World: Business as Usual will not Do It” in The Economist November 19, 2009
- 16. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis A bit of history (the “ends” with which we live) Earl “Rusty” Butz, Richard Nixon’s second secretary of agriculture... revolutionized American agriculture, helping to shift the food chain onto the foundation of cheap corn. Butz took over the Department of Agriculture during the last period in American History that food prices climbed high enough to generate real political heat; his legacy would be to make sure that never happened again... By 1973 the inflation rate for groceries reached an all-time high, and housewives were organizing protests at supermarkets. Farmers were killing chicks because they couldn’t afford to buy feed, and the price of beef was slipping beyond the reach of middle-class consumers... Nixon had a consumer revolt on his hands and he dispatched Earl Butz to quell it. (Butz) set to work reengineering the American food system, driving down prices and vastly increasing the output of American farmers... Butz made no secret of his agenda: He exhorted farmers to plant their fields “fencerow to fencerow” and advised them to “get big or get out.” Bigger farms were more productive, he believed, so he pushed farmers to consolidate... (He) began replacing the New Deal system of supporting prices through loans, government grain purchases, and land idling with a new system of direct payments to farmers... (T)he new subsidies encouraged farmers to sell their corn at any price, since the government would make up the difference... Instead of supporting farmers, the government was now subsidizing every bushel of corn a farmer could grow--and American farmers pushed to go flat out could grow a hell of a lot of corn. From The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
- 17. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis And the results? 1. “Food” as commodity / “Food” as input 2. Wastage 3. Unsustainable production systems--hidden costs 4. Exclusion of critical elements of the “human food system” from consideration.
- 18. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis 1. “Food” as commodity / “Food” as input Mark W. Rosegrant Director, Environment and Production Technology Division International Food Policy Research Institute Testimony for the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs May 7, 2008
- 19. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis 1. “Food” as commodity / “Food” as input Mark W. Rosegrant Director, Environment and Production Technology Division International Food Policy Research Institute Testimony for the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs May 7, 2008
- 20. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis 1. “Food” as commodity / “Food” as input Homi Kharas Brookings Institution PBS Newshour 23 April, 2008
- 21. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis 1. “Food” as commodity / “Food” as input Homi Kharas Brookings Institution PBS Newshour 23 April, 2008
- 22. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis 1. “Food” as commodity / “Food” as input
- 23. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis 2. Wastage In 1974 approximately 900 kcal per person per day was wasted whereas in 2003 Americans wasted approximately 1400 kcal per person per day or about 150 trillion kcal per year... (F)ood waste has progressively increased from about 30% of the available food supply in 1974 to almost 40% in recent years... Food waste now accounts for more than one quarter of the total freshwater consumption and about 300 million barrels of oil per year. The calculated progressive increase of food waste suggests that the US obesity epidemic has been the result of a ‘‘push effect’’ of increased food availability and marketing with Americans being unable to match their food intake with the increased supply of cheap, readily available food. Thus, addressing the oversupply of food energy in the US may help curb the obesity epidemic as well as decrease food waste, which has profound environmental consequences. Hall KD, Guo J, Dore M, Chow CC (2009) The Progressive Increase of Food Waste in America and Its Environmental Impact. PLoS ONE 4(11): e7940.
- 24. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis 2. Wastage
- 25. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis 3. Unsustainable production systems--hidden costs Michael Pollan and Joel Salatin from Food, Inc.
- 26. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis 3. Unsustainable production systems--hidden costs Michael Pollan and Joel Salatin from Food, Inc.
- 27. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis 4. Exclusion of critical elements of the “human food system” from consideration. Is SHE part of the food system?
- 28. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Nutrition and Breastfeeding Prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years We estimated that stunting, severe wasting, and intrauterine growth restriction together were responsible for 2·2 million deaths… for children younger than 5 years. Suboptimum breastfeeding was estimated to be responsible for 1·4 million child deaths… In an analysis that accounted for co-exposure of these nutrition-related factors, they were together responsible for about 35% of child deaths... Maternal and child undernutrition: global and regional exposures and Maternal and child undernutrition: global and regional exposures and health consequences. Robert E Black etet alin The Lancet 2008 health consequences. Robert E Black al in The Lancet 2008
- 29. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis The Food System as a “Power”
- 30. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis The Food System as a “Power” Kar Chu l Bar rch th Sta and te
- 31. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Powers… some definitions/concepts
- 32. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Powers… some definitions/concepts 1. What are the powers?
- 33. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Powers… some definitions/concepts 1. What are the powers? 2. How do they act?
- 34. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Powers… some definitions/concepts 1. What are the powers? 2. How do they act? 3. How do we deal with them?
- 35. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Powers… some definitions/concepts 1. What are the powers? • The powers are good • The powers are fallen • The powers must be redeemed
- 36. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Powers… some definitions/concepts 1. What are the powers? …(W)e might say that we have…an inclusive vision of religious structures… intellectual structures (-ologies and - isms), moral structures (codes and customs), political structures (the tyrant, the market, the school, the courts, race, and nation)
- 37. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Powers… some definitions/concepts 2. How do they act? Structures that are deemed good and that provide the basis for natural or social order that enables life… are turned into ultimate values, ends in themselves, and thus are elevated to the powers over one’s life and then worshipped as gods.
- 38. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Powers… some definitions/concepts 2. How do they act? What Jesus reveals here (in the Sermon on the Mount), is that money is a power. This term must be understood not in some vague way as a “force” but in the specific sense typical in the New Testament. A power acts by itself, is capable of “moving” other things, is autonomous (or claims to be), follows its own law, and acts as a “subject” (not an object)… A power has a spiritual significance… A power is never neutral, it has a direction and directs human action. In discussing Mammon Jesus is not describing the relationship of humans with an object, but with a subject. He in no way counsels us to use money well, or to earn it honestly. He speaks of a power, which wants to be comparable to God, which establishes itself as a master over humankind, and which has a specific plan.
- 39. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Powers… some definitions/concepts 2. How do they act? • Powers are bent on their own survival • Powers seek to establish and build allegiance towards themselves • Powers are bent on (absolute) autonomy in seeking to liberate themselves from accountability for their acts
- 40. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Powers… some definitions/concepts 3. How do we deal with them? Acknowledge them… What is most crucial…is the failure of moral theology, in the American context, to confront the principalities--the institutions, systems, ideologies, and other political and social powers--as militant, aggressive, and immensely influential creatures in this world as it is… Americans--including professed Christians, who have biblical grounds to be wiser-- remain, it seems, astonishingly obtuse about these powers.
- 41. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Powers… some definitions/concepts 3. How do we deal with them? Recognize their destiny… Kar The destiny of the rebellious angelic Chu l Bar rch th powers…is not that they will be and annihilated, but that they will be Sta te forced into service and the glorification of Christ, and through him, God
- 42. Food Systems andthe World Food Crisis Powers… some definitions/concepts 3. How do we deal with them? Be who we are… (T)he sovereignty of the principalities and powers has been broken, and it is the task of the Church to proclaim that. The working of the powers is limited, and it is the task of the Church to display that. Finally, this broken sovereignty and limitation are the signs of the ultimate defeat of the powers, and the Church is the place where those signs are celebrated…
- 43. robbathome@gmail.com 717-598-2019
Editor's Notes
- #5 The second area of confusion--related to the first--is a lack of consideration of “ends” at all. This and the following slides point out some of this challenge and it is related to an uncritical acceptance of what Ellul calls “technique”--the focus on progress or an inattention to the reality of how even good means can lead to disastrous ends. Perhaps we see the struggle of this failure most in how we have come to discuss the need for economic growth.
- #7 This slide brings us back around to consider our true controlling narrative as we walk the Emmaus Road of our time. “We were hoping that with the appropriate incentives, tax structures, in the face of growing scarcities of one resources, human ingenuity WOULD provide an escape from… (global warming, terrorism, economic collapse, the end of oil… or whatever). We are, as Jacques Ellul warned over 40 years ago a “technique-focused” society. His first book on the subject was entitled in French: The Technique or The Stake of the Century… (as in “what is at stake here).
- #8 Quote from Ellul about technique and then a story about astonishing means (astonishing connectedness) and the reality of means-dominated technique--My last trip home… The key point here is that an inattention to ends means that we become part of monstrous systems without acknowledging or even being aware of our connection to the fallen systems all around us. We remain uncritical about means because we are not focused on ends. This should not paralyze us but remind us that without an attention to the ends to which we are applying ourselves we can and do participate in monstrous acts. Perhaps bring in an example from PHC--the magic bullet means to reduce child mortality--an inattention to ends leads to a great deal of research money and time being put into the technology (the technique) for saving lives but very little into the systems required to make changes last. Technique-focused solutions without delivery mechanisms certainly enrich the holders of patents and inventors but they do not necessarily meet the needs of the poorest most needy populations.
- #25 This slide should show book covers from Politics of Jesus, Barth’s Church and State, Marva Dawn, Walter Wink, Stringfellow, “Transforming the Powers”, and Ellul’s money and power and note the “heavy lifting” that has been done to establish the theological underpinnings to more deeply understand the reality of the powers of which Jesus, Paul and other NT writers speak. Note also that we live in perhaps the first generation in which the full development, recapturing of a more complete sense of the reality of these entities has come about. And yet I wonder to what extent we are bringing this analysis into the classroom in a way that engages students in a critical analysis of the institutions and ideologies with which they will come into contact every day of their lives. Further, I wonder to what extent we critically challenge our own participation in these fallen powers--the extent to which we view institutions--even Christian institutions--even institutions like EMU as fallen powers and address that fallenness in concrete ways. In the end there are two critical issues here: how do we prepare students to internalize this critical understanding of the context--the world in which they work AND, how does an institution like EMU acknowledge and deal with its own fallenness--its penchant for acting as a fallen power. I should note here that there remains much debate about the exact nature of the principalities and powers but there seems to be in these and other writings a clear consensus that whatever else they might be they ARE embodied in the ideologies and political and social structures (read, institutions) of our world. Further, there seems to be agreement that the powers are created for good, are, however, fallen and will be “redeemed”. It is the fallenness of the powers that creates the greatest challenge for us for it is in their fallenness that they engage in destructive and dehumanizing acts. My purpose in raising this issue is to ask to what extent these understandings find their way into our daily work, course designs, teaching and preparation for students. I raise it because I have been struck again and again by how little we acknowledge the reality of these powers and yet how all pervasive their effect is--not only “out there” in the world but in the falleness of our own institutions which are themselves powers that engage in dehumanizing practices.
- #26 This slide should show book covers from Politics of Jesus, Barth’s Church and State, Marva Dawn, Walter Wink, Stringfellow, “Transforming the Powers”, and Ellul’s money and power and note the “heavy lifting” that has been done to establish the theological underpinnings to more deeply understand the reality of the powers of which Jesus, Paul and other NT writers speak. Note also that we live in perhaps the first generation in which the full development, recapturing of a more complete sense of the reality of these entities has come about. And yet I wonder to what extent we are bringing this analysis into the classroom in a way that engages students in a critical analysis of the institutions and ideologies with which they will come into contact every day of their lives. Further, I wonder to what extent we critically challenge our own participation in these fallen powers--the extent to which we view institutions--even Christian institutions--even institutions like EMU as fallen powers and address that fallenness in concrete ways. In the end there are two critical issues here: how do we prepare students to internalize this critical understanding of the context--the world in which they work AND, how does an institution like EMU acknowledge and deal with its own fallenness--its penchant for acting as a fallen power. I should note here that there remains much debate about the exact nature of the principalities and powers but there seems to be in these and other writings a clear consensus that whatever else they might be they ARE embodied in the ideologies and political and social structures (read, institutions) of our world. Further, there seems to be agreement that the powers are created for good, are, however, fallen and will be “redeemed”. It is the fallenness of the powers that creates the greatest challenge for us for it is in their fallenness that they engage in destructive and dehumanizing acts. My purpose in raising this issue is to ask to what extent these understandings find their way into our daily work, course designs, teaching and preparation for students. I raise it because I have been struck again and again by how little we acknowledge the reality of these powers and yet how all pervasive their effect is--not only “out there” in the world but in the falleness of our own institutions which are themselves powers that engage in dehumanizing practices.
- #27 This slide should show book covers from Politics of Jesus, Barth’s Church and State, Marva Dawn, Walter Wink, Stringfellow, “Transforming the Powers”, and Ellul’s money and power and note the “heavy lifting” that has been done to establish the theological underpinnings to more deeply understand the reality of the powers of which Jesus, Paul and other NT writers speak. Note also that we live in perhaps the first generation in which the full development, recapturing of a more complete sense of the reality of these entities has come about. And yet I wonder to what extent we are bringing this analysis into the classroom in a way that engages students in a critical analysis of the institutions and ideologies with which they will come into contact every day of their lives. Further, I wonder to what extent we critically challenge our own participation in these fallen powers--the extent to which we view institutions--even Christian institutions--even institutions like EMU as fallen powers and address that fallenness in concrete ways. In the end there are two critical issues here: how do we prepare students to internalize this critical understanding of the context--the world in which they work AND, how does an institution like EMU acknowledge and deal with its own fallenness--its penchant for acting as a fallen power. I should note here that there remains much debate about the exact nature of the principalities and powers but there seems to be in these and other writings a clear consensus that whatever else they might be they ARE embodied in the ideologies and political and social structures (read, institutions) of our world. Further, there seems to be agreement that the powers are created for good, are, however, fallen and will be “redeemed”. It is the fallenness of the powers that creates the greatest challenge for us for it is in their fallenness that they engage in destructive and dehumanizing acts. My purpose in raising this issue is to ask to what extent these understandings find their way into our daily work, course designs, teaching and preparation for students. I raise it because I have been struck again and again by how little we acknowledge the reality of these powers and yet how all pervasive their effect is--not only “out there” in the world but in the falleness of our own institutions which are themselves powers that engage in dehumanizing practices.
- #28 This slide should show book covers from Politics of Jesus, Barth’s Church and State, Marva Dawn, Walter Wink, Stringfellow, “Transforming the Powers”, and Ellul’s money and power and note the “heavy lifting” that has been done to establish the theological underpinnings to more deeply understand the reality of the powers of which Jesus, Paul and other NT writers speak. Note also that we live in perhaps the first generation in which the full development, recapturing of a more complete sense of the reality of these entities has come about. And yet I wonder to what extent we are bringing this analysis into the classroom in a way that engages students in a critical analysis of the institutions and ideologies with which they will come into contact every day of their lives. Further, I wonder to what extent we critically challenge our own participation in these fallen powers--the extent to which we view institutions--even Christian institutions--even institutions like EMU as fallen powers and address that fallenness in concrete ways. In the end there are two critical issues here: how do we prepare students to internalize this critical understanding of the context--the world in which they work AND, how does an institution like EMU acknowledge and deal with its own fallenness--its penchant for acting as a fallen power. I should note here that there remains much debate about the exact nature of the principalities and powers but there seems to be in these and other writings a clear consensus that whatever else they might be they ARE embodied in the ideologies and political and social structures (read, institutions) of our world. Further, there seems to be agreement that the powers are created for good, are, however, fallen and will be “redeemed”. It is the fallenness of the powers that creates the greatest challenge for us for it is in their fallenness that they engage in destructive and dehumanizing acts. My purpose in raising this issue is to ask to what extent these understandings find their way into our daily work, course designs, teaching and preparation for students. I raise it because I have been struck again and again by how little we acknowledge the reality of these powers and yet how all pervasive their effect is--not only “out there” in the world but in the falleness of our own institutions which are themselves powers that engage in dehumanizing practices.
- #29 This slide should show book covers from Politics of Jesus, Barth’s Church and State, Marva Dawn, Walter Wink, Stringfellow, “Transforming the Powers”, and Ellul’s money and power and note the “heavy lifting” that has been done to establish the theological underpinnings to more deeply understand the reality of the powers of which Jesus, Paul and other NT writers speak. Note also that we live in perhaps the first generation in which the full development, recapturing of a more complete sense of the reality of these entities has come about. And yet I wonder to what extent we are bringing this analysis into the classroom in a way that engages students in a critical analysis of the institutions and ideologies with which they will come into contact every day of their lives. Further, I wonder to what extent we critically challenge our own participation in these fallen powers--the extent to which we view institutions--even Christian institutions--even institutions like EMU as fallen powers and address that fallenness in concrete ways. In the end there are two critical issues here: how do we prepare students to internalize this critical understanding of the context--the world in which they work AND, how does an institution like EMU acknowledge and deal with its own fallenness--its penchant for acting as a fallen power. I should note here that there remains much debate about the exact nature of the principalities and powers but there seems to be in these and other writings a clear consensus that whatever else they might be they ARE embodied in the ideologies and political and social structures (read, institutions) of our world. Further, there seems to be agreement that the powers are created for good, are, however, fallen and will be “redeemed”. It is the fallenness of the powers that creates the greatest challenge for us for it is in their fallenness that they engage in destructive and dehumanizing acts. My purpose in raising this issue is to ask to what extent these understandings find their way into our daily work, course designs, teaching and preparation for students. I raise it because I have been struck again and again by how little we acknowledge the reality of these powers and yet how all pervasive their effect is--not only “out there” in the world but in the falleness of our own institutions which are themselves powers that engage in dehumanizing practices.
- #30 This slide should show book covers from Politics of Jesus, Barth’s Church and State, Marva Dawn, Walter Wink, Stringfellow, “Transforming the Powers”, and Ellul’s money and power and note the “heavy lifting” that has been done to establish the theological underpinnings to more deeply understand the reality of the powers of which Jesus, Paul and other NT writers speak. Note also that we live in perhaps the first generation in which the full development, recapturing of a more complete sense of the reality of these entities has come about. And yet I wonder to what extent we are bringing this analysis into the classroom in a way that engages students in a critical analysis of the institutions and ideologies with which they will come into contact every day of their lives. Further, I wonder to what extent we critically challenge our own participation in these fallen powers--the extent to which we view institutions--even Christian institutions--even institutions like EMU as fallen powers and address that fallenness in concrete ways. In the end there are two critical issues here: how do we prepare students to internalize this critical understanding of the context--the world in which they work AND, how does an institution like EMU acknowledge and deal with its own fallenness--its penchant for acting as a fallen power. I should note here that there remains much debate about the exact nature of the principalities and powers but there seems to be in these and other writings a clear consensus that whatever else they might be they ARE embodied in the ideologies and political and social structures (read, institutions) of our world. Further, there seems to be agreement that the powers are created for good, are, however, fallen and will be “redeemed”. It is the fallenness of the powers that creates the greatest challenge for us for it is in their fallenness that they engage in destructive and dehumanizing acts. My purpose in raising this issue is to ask to what extent these understandings find their way into our daily work, course designs, teaching and preparation for students. I raise it because I have been struck again and again by how little we acknowledge the reality of these powers and yet how all pervasive their effect is--not only “out there” in the world but in the falleness of our own institutions which are themselves powers that engage in dehumanizing practices.
- #31 This slide should show book covers from Politics of Jesus, Barth’s Church and State, Marva Dawn, Walter Wink, Stringfellow, “Transforming the Powers”, and Ellul’s money and power and note the “heavy lifting” that has been done to establish the theological underpinnings to more deeply understand the reality of the powers of which Jesus, Paul and other NT writers speak. Note also that we live in perhaps the first generation in which the full development, recapturing of a more complete sense of the reality of these entities has come about. And yet I wonder to what extent we are bringing this analysis into the classroom in a way that engages students in a critical analysis of the institutions and ideologies with which they will come into contact every day of their lives. Further, I wonder to what extent we critically challenge our own participation in these fallen powers--the extent to which we view institutions--even Christian institutions--even institutions like EMU as fallen powers and address that fallenness in concrete ways. In the end there are two critical issues here: how do we prepare students to internalize this critical understanding of the context--the world in which they work AND, how does an institution like EMU acknowledge and deal with its own fallenness--its penchant for acting as a fallen power. I should note here that there remains much debate about the exact nature of the principalities and powers but there seems to be in these and other writings a clear consensus that whatever else they might be they ARE embodied in the ideologies and political and social structures (read, institutions) of our world. Further, there seems to be agreement that the powers are created for good, are, however, fallen and will be “redeemed”. It is the fallenness of the powers that creates the greatest challenge for us for it is in their fallenness that they engage in destructive and dehumanizing acts. My purpose in raising this issue is to ask to what extent these understandings find their way into our daily work, course designs, teaching and preparation for students. I raise it because I have been struck again and again by how little we acknowledge the reality of these powers and yet how all pervasive their effect is--not only “out there” in the world but in the falleness of our own institutions which are themselves powers that engage in dehumanizing practices.
- #32 Obviously a topic as large as this one (the Gingerich/Grimsrud volume comes from a conference held here in 2001 that was fully devoted to the theme and the bibliographical information it and the other volumes shown previously provide demonstrate the huge literature. I want therefore merely to summarize a few points in order to return to the two critical questions raised above: how do we prepare students to work in a world with such a “domination system”, which is how Wink refers to the powers in their entirety AND, equally as important, how do we as an institution of the church deal with the reality that we work within a fallen power--EMU. Perhaps the latter question is the most challenging… I would like to briefly summarize some points that I have found most helpful along three lines…
- #33 Obviously a topic as large as this one (the Gingerich/Grimsrud volume comes from a conference held here in 2001 that was fully devoted to the theme and the bibliographical information it and the other volumes shown previously provide demonstrate the huge literature. I want therefore merely to summarize a few points in order to return to the two critical questions raised above: how do we prepare students to work in a world with such a “domination system”, which is how Wink refers to the powers in their entirety AND, equally as important, how do we as an institution of the church deal with the reality that we work within a fallen power--EMU. Perhaps the latter question is the most challenging… I would like to briefly summarize some points that I have found most helpful along three lines…
- #34 Obviously a topic as large as this one (the Gingerich/Grimsrud volume comes from a conference held here in 2001 that was fully devoted to the theme and the bibliographical information it and the other volumes shown previously provide demonstrate the huge literature. I want therefore merely to summarize a few points in order to return to the two critical questions raised above: how do we prepare students to work in a world with such a “domination system”, which is how Wink refers to the powers in their entirety AND, equally as important, how do we as an institution of the church deal with the reality that we work within a fallen power--EMU. Perhaps the latter question is the most challenging… I would like to briefly summarize some points that I have found most helpful along three lines…
- #35 Yoder developed this concept in relation to a key power--the state--in acknowledging that the state has an ordering function within society.
- #36 In his Chapter on “Christ and Power” Yoder develops a similar notion and provides a useful summary of what the powers “are” (Wink does much more on this but Yoder’s is a useful summary)
- #37 This a quote from Willard Swartley and his analysis of evil and how power structures act… Notice here how the issue of “ends” resurfaces--powers seek to become ends in themselves rather than enabling humanity and the world to achieve the ends for which God created them… This may be a key to why we focus so little on the “big” ends--we become (as Wink states) enthralled with the powers.
- #38 Speaking about mammon as a power, Jacques Ellul says…
- #39 As I have looked at my own work in non-profit and academic settings over the past 25 years I see these as common ways of acting. To me, these explain many of the de-humanizing and dysfunctional aspects of various organizations and also demonstrate how our institutions--even faith-based ones--mimic the fallen structures of the world. I am thinking particularly here of the institution, to corporation (see the film “The Corporation--laws that made the corporation have the rights of a human and the amorality of marketing--nagging study). Talk to about where I have seen institutions playing with the truth as part of an allegiance building process Talk about branding. I realize that I may be stepping on toes--but the point is we cannot accept non-critically the techniques of the corporation--be careful about accepting the means without asking how it directs our ends. The point here is that all of these actions have deeper implications for how we act in terms of truth telling, raising money, planning, recruiting
- #40 Most critically with an acknowledgement of their reality and what they can and cannot do given the death and resurrection of Christ (Christus Victor).
- #42 This is a call to be the alternate community of blessing that we are placed in this time/place to be… There is no passivity here (important as we examine the implications of the foregoing for EMU)