This book addresses the practical relevance of the interconnection of feminism, ecology, and religious theological thought, and asks questions about the lack of attention to gender issues in both ecological theology and deglobalization theory. The book looks at issues of globalization, interfaith ecological theology, ecofeminism, and deglobalization movements comparatively across different world religions and across geographical regions. Visit our website for sample chapters!

Discusses ecofeminism in the context of the social, political and ecological consequences of globalization. The book includes case studies, essays, theoretical works, and articles on ecofeminist movements from many of the world''s regions including Taiwan, Mexico, Kenya, Chile, India, Brazil, Canada, England and the United States.

Sacred Longings responds to the suffering and poverty produced by globalization. It tackles the fact that we are an addictive society trapped by the market's seductions. Should we really allow the market to dictate what we want? That is is the question that Mary Grey poses and refutes throughout this powerful and moving critique of the destructive impact globalization causes in the 21st century. Grey argues that there is a deeper language of desire concealing what humanity really wants. How can the resources of theology, Church and faith community be harnessed in this search? Have they lost their way, to some extent complicit in the market's dictates? Weaving story and myth creatively, the book explores the eco-mystical path, attempting to recover positive theological resources - within and beyond Christianity - for a renewed spiritual quest. Yet the answer presents a surprising paradox: recovering what we really yearn for will mean creating and participating in a cluture of communities of simplicity and voluntary sacrifice. Sacred Longings is a powerful call to action and is essential reading for anyone concerned with the destructive effects of unrestrained globalization. Mary Grey is an ecofeminist liberation theologian and social activist. As a writer, Professorial Fellow at St Mary's University College, Twickenham and Trustee of the NGO 'Wells for India', her aim is to offer a theological response to the problems of poverty and social justice in contemporary society. Her many publications include Redeeming the Dream (1989) Feminist Images of the Sacred (2001).

In the face of the current environmental crisis—which clearly has moral and spiritual dimensions—members of all the world’s faiths have come to recognize the critical importance of religion’s relationship to ecology. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Ecology offers a comprehensive overview of the history and the latest developments in religious engagement with environmental issues throughout the world. Newly commissioned essays from noted scholars of diverse faiths and scientific traditions present the most cutting-edge thinking on religion’s relationship to the environment. Initial readings explore the ways traditional concepts of nature in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and other religious traditions have been shaped by the environmental crisis. Readings then address the changing nature of theology and religious thought in response to the challenges of protecting the environment. Various conceptual issues and themes that transcend individual traditions—climate change, bio-ethics, social justice, ecofeminism, and more—are then analyzed before a final section examines some of the immediate challenges we face in caring for the Earth while looking to the future of religious environmentalism. Timely and thought-provoking, Companion to Religion and Ecology offers illuminating insights into the role of religion in the ongoing struggle to secure the future well-being of our natural world. With a foreword by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and an Afterword by John Cobb

"Religion and ecology" has arrived. What was once a niche interest for a few academics concerned with environmental issues and a few environmentalists interested in religion has become an established academic field with classic texts, graduate programs, regular meetings at academic conferences, and growing interest from other academics and the mass media. Theologians, ethicists, sociologists, and other scholars are engaged in a broad dialogue about the ways religious studies can help understand and address environmental problems, including the sorts of methodological, terminological, and substantive debates that characterize any academic discourse.This book recognizes the field that has taken shape, reflects on the ways it is changing, and anticipates its development in the future. The essays offer analyses and reflections from emerging scholars of religion and ecology, each addressing her or his own specialty in light of two questions: (1) What have we inherited from the work that has come before us? and (2) What inquiries, concerns, and conversation partners should be central to the next generation of scholarship?The aim of this volume is not to lay out a single and clear path forward for the field. Rather, the authors critically reflect on the field from within, outline some of the major issues we face in the academy, and offer perspectives that will nurture continued dialogue.

This book is an autobiography tracing Rosemary Radford Ruether's intellectual development and writing career. Ruether examines the influence of her mother and family on her development and particularly her interactions with the Roman Catholic religious tradition. She delves into her exploration of interfaith relations with Judaism and Islam as well. Her educational formation at Scripps College and the importance of historical theology is also a major emphasis. Mental illness has also affected Ruether's nuclear family in the person of her son, and she details the family's struggle with this issue. Finally in this intellectual autobiography, Ruether explores her long concern and involvement with ecology, feminism, and the quest for a spirituality and practice for a livable planet.

A foundational resource for readers investigating religiously motivated environmentalism, this book provides both a global overview of the subject and a detailed discussion of key figures, concepts, organizations, events, and documents. Beginning in the late 1960s, a growing number of activists, scholars, and scientists asserted that traditional religions had been major contributors to the environmental crisis. In response, theologians, religious organizations, and religiously motivated activists became increasingly involved in environmental issues. At the same time, emerging nature-based belief systems emphasized values and lifestyles based in environmentalism. More recently, religiously motivated environmentalism has become a powerful force in shaping environmental policy and human action globally and has joined with secular environmentalism to address related issues. This book explores the background and current state of religious environmentalism. The book begins with an overview essay examining the history and context of religious environmentalism and its significance today. A chronology then profiles the most important events related to religious environmentalism. A section of more than 50 alphabetically arranged reference entries follows, with each entry providing objective information about people, places, events, movements, works, and other topics. The entries include cross-references and suggestions for further reading, and the book closes with a selected, annotated bibliography of major works.