Feminist Liberation Theologians’ Network Report 2023

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Feminist Liberation Theologians’ Network Report

Annual Meeting, November 17, 2023

San Antonio, TX

By Mary E. Hunt, Convener, Codirector of WATER,

Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual

 

         The Feminist Liberation Theologians’ Network held its 27th annual gathering in San Antonio, TX in conjunction with the American Academy of Religion/ Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting on Friday, November 17, 2023. The session was co-sponsored by the AAR/SBL Women’s Caucus and preceded a Caucus session the next day on three new works—on rape by Danielle Tumminio, on disability by Lisa Powell, and on surrogacy by Grace Kao to which Mary E. Hunt presented the response.

More than thirty-five colleagues from at least seven countries convened at a time when wars raged in the Middle East as well as between Ukraine and Russia. These were heavy on our hearts such that getting together for sustained conversation with people from several parts of the world was welcome.

We began with a Land Acknowledgement using the Canadian data base Native-Land https://native-land.ca/ which gives the information of those whose land it is by zip code: “In the area of 78205 you are on Jumanos, Coahuiltecan, Ndé Kónitsąąíí Gokíyaa (Lipan Apache), and Tonkawa land.”

We did our customary introductions, hearing from each participant about their starting point and one thing that makes the AAR/SBL a meaningful place for the exchange of ideas.

We turned to our dual agenda, first a discussion of the Australian “Voices” Referendum which was “Whether to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice,” and then to a conversation about the war in the Middle East.

Michele Eastwood, Director of Research at Australian Lutheran College, Executive Director for ANZATS, The Australiana and New Zealand Association of Theological Studies, led the way. She provided a very useful overview and analysis of the recent “Voices” referendum. Michele’s remarks are at the end of this report. We are grateful to her for the information and insights.

The Referendum failed for reasons that were all too familiar, especially racism. Confusion over the wording was also cited. Certain generational divides accrued, such that young people in urban areas voted in favor more than other sectors of the population. Next steps in this complicated process are not clear. Meanwhile, discrimination persists. FLTN will follow this important issue, perhaps with a short report at our May 2024 Zoom Meeting.

The second part of our meeting centered on the war in the Middle East. We did not have a naïve sense that we could do anything from this remove. We brought  the realism that is rooted in self-understanding. We began to identify for ourselves and in conversation where we start on this matter—where we are located, with whom we are allied, and how we see the situation in all of its complexity, especially with regard to women, children, and female-identified persons. Then we began to imagine how we might be useful: what tools and insights from feminisms, liberationist work, and theologies might be unique and relevant resources for trying to have meaningful conversations especially with people who see these matters differently.

Earnest and enthusiastic conversation ensued in small groups. A deeper sense of WHY people hold the view they hold does not change our own views, but it helps pave the way toward meaningful conversation. We tried to humanize not homogenize the conversation.

We observed that women and children always suffer in war despite many religions’ claims to protect them. Lip service about their care is common; rape, abuse, and worse are more often the order of the day.

We explored the various forms of essentialism that are part of conversations about war. Does “never again” have any time limits? Does it include “never again to anyone”? Does being something—woman, man, Jew, Muslim—obligate people to certain perspectives? How do we negotiate the contradictions?

Obviously we did not solve anything. But, unlike some other conversations about war that end in impasse, we came away with a deeper sense of one another’s views, and a deeper appreciation for how people hold views we cannot even imagine. This meta conversation helped to illuminate how we might move forward.

Our colleague Ulrike Auga (www.ulrikeauga.com) made the following suggestions for reading:

 

–Auga, Ulrike; Braun, Christina von (eds.), Gender in Conflicts. Palestine – Israel Germany, Berlin / Münster / Wien / Zürich / London: LIT 2006.

 

–Auga, Ulrike; Braun, Christina von; Bruns, Claudia; Husmann, Jana (eds.), Fundamentalism and Gender: Scripture – Body – Community, Eugene: Wipf and Stock 2013.

 

The next FLTN meeting will be in May 2024 on Zoom. The next in-person meeting will be at the AAR/SBL in San Diego, CA on Friday, November 22, 2024 from 4-6 PM PST. The theme will be announced.

 Please send your suggestions for themes and speakers as soon as possible to Mary E Hunt (mhunt@hers.com).

Thanks to Diann Neu for videoing the meeting, and to all who participated, especially Michele Eastwood whose very helpful remarks follow.

 

Michele Eastwood

 

FLTN Presentation SBL 2023

I would like to acknowledge that we are meeting on the lands of the Payaya people of the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation. I would also like to acknowledge that I work, write and play on the unceded and sovereign lands of the Waddawurrung people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to any Indigenous people here in the room today and acknowledge their care of the land over many thousands of years.

In October, citizens of the country now called Australia were required to vote in a referendum to change our constitution in order to include an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. The Voice, as it is colloquially known, was a proposed consultative body comprised of democratically elected Indigenous people who would provide advice for the government which was limited to issues that impact Indigenous people. As Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, reassured a fearful and conservative public, the Voice would be an advisory committee only and would not have any capacity to enact laws in and of itself. However, the referendum failed with not one state voting in support of it.[1] Only the Australian Capital Territory voted yes, and the state of Victoria came next closest with 45% support. The Australian Capital Territory, or ACT, is the home to the nation’s capital and is overrepresented by people who are highly education and younger – the very demographic most likely to vote yes. The ACT has a long history of being more socially progressive than other areas, although as a territory, it doesn’t have the same voting weight in referenda that the states do.[2]

Throughout this presentation, I will make reference to the lands now called Australia, this phrase coined by Wakka Wakka woman, Brooke Prentis, acknowledges that the nation-state of Australia is a colonial imposition on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land where sovereignty has never been ceded.[3]

So, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been living on the lands now called Australia for an estimated 65,000 years.[4] They are considered the oldest continuing living culture in the world, and their wisdom and traditions have helped them to thrive across the diversity of lands that make up our island continent.[5] The first known European contact with this land occurred in 1606, by Dutch sailors with Spanish boats following soon after.[6] Throughout the 17th century Dutch sailors explored the western and southern coasts and called the land “New Holland.”

The land, however, remained un-colonised until the arrival of the British First Fleet in 1786, at which point a pattern of invasion, colonisation and genocide led to the widescale destruction of Indigenous populations through direct killing and the more indirect introduction of disease, alongside dispossession of lands and removal of children. The Aboriginal people who survived were often rounded up onto missions where all aspects of their lives were controlled. These experiences are starting to be revealed through the works of people such as Larissa Behrendt[7], Chelsea Watego[8], Claire Coleman[9] and other indigenous writers and scholars.[10] One of the things revealed by the referendum debates was a distinct lack of knowledge about the atrocities committed against the First Nations people, and the way systemic discrimination continues today and the consequential ongoing trauma and its impacts.

In 1967 a successful referendum was held that for the first time acknowledged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as citizens of the nation-state that is Australia.[11] On 26 January, 1972 four Aboriginal men – Michael Anderson, Billy Craigie, Tony Coorey and Bertie Williams arrived in Canberra – Australia’s capital city – to establish an Aboriginal Embassy.[12] The embassy consisted of a beach umbrella on the lawn in front of Parliament House, although the umbrella was replaced soon after by several tents, prompting the current name of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. This was the beginning of the longest continuous protest for Indigenous land rights in the world. The date – 26 January – is important to note because this has been known as Australia Day for some years now, marking the arrival of the first fleet (a group of 11 convict ships from Britain) into what is now known as Port Jackson.[13] More recently, in response to growing protests and unrests, January 26 is now commonly referred to as Invasion Day with increasing numbers of local and state government bodies choosing not to hold citizenship and other celebrations on this day as acts of solidarity with and for the First Nations people of the land.[14]

In 2017, a petition by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders leaders called the Uluru Statement from the Heart was submitted to the Australian Government calling for reforms to recognise the continuing sovereignty of Indigenous people in the lands now called Australia and to address the structural and systemic barriers facing First Nations people.[15] The Uluru Statement called for the Voice as well as a Makarrata Commission to oversee the process of treaties with the diverse Indigenous groups across these lands now called Australia and to establish a truth-telling process about the history and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These processes are more simply known as Voice, Treaty and Truth.

As noted, the Voice is the first of these to be proposed on a national level; although, there are current treaty negotiations being held across the nation, in recognition that no Indigenous tribe can speak for another and so treaties – in the plural – are being negotiated at the local and state level with the traditional owners of the local lands. In the wake of the referendum defeat, some of these treaty negotiations have already been scaled back.

I think it is worth noting that in 1993 the Native Title Act was established which theoretically gave Indigenous peoples recognition of their connection to the land. However, the reality is that Native Title has been hard to prove and undermined by mining and other business interests.[16]

It’s also worth considering that Australia is a relatively conservative nation. For a referendum to succeed, a majority of people overall must vote in favour as well as a majority of the states, this is called a double majority. Within the history of the Australian colony, there have been 45 referenda, the first being held in 1906.[17] Of those, only 8 have been passed.

The explanations given for the failure of this referendum are diverse[18]: some note that it was driven by racism and the ongoing nature of these lands as a white, colonial project. Some say it was a failure of the yes campaign to clearly articulate their vision. Some opposition to the Voice came from Indigenous leaders themselves – some who opposed the Voice in favour of black Sovereignty, and some who have argued that colonisation has actually been good for the Indigenous people.

The sad reality is that this defeat has emboldened racists, shown there is not widescale political good-will towards supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and probably means there won’t be another opportunity to set this right for many years to come.

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[1] For full results see: https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/referendum/2023/results?filter=all&sort=az&state=all&party=all

[2] For a explanation of Canberra’s progressive social history see: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/30/how-canberra-became-a-progressive-paradise-and-a-housing-hell

[3] For more information about Brooke Prentis, see: https://www.brookeprentis.com/about

[4] For more information see: https://digital-classroom.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/evidence-first-peoples

[5] For more information see: https://www.natgeokids.com/au/discover/history/general-history/aboriginal-australian-culture/

[6] A brief overview of recorded interactions between Dutch and other European sailors with the Indigenous people of the lands now called Australia can be found here: https://dutchaustralianculturalcentre.com.au/news/first-contacts-between-the-dutch-and-the-aboriginal-people/

[7] Larissa Behrendt is the author of  a range of titles including After Story, Finding Eliza, Home, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Relations, Achieving Social Justice and Indigenous Australia for Dummies. A full list of her works and achievements can be found here: https://www.larissabehrendt.com.au/

[8] Professor Chelsea Watego is the author of Another Day in the Colony which examines the continuing racism that First Nations people face in contemporary Australia. More information can be found here: https://www.uqp.com.au/books/another-day-in-the-colony

[9] Clare Coleman is the author of Enclave, Lies Damned Lies, The Old Lie, and Terra Nullius. More information about Clare and her work can be found here: https://clairegcoleman.com/index.html

[10] Other Indigenous writers from the lands now called Australia include: Bruce Pascoe (Dark Emu, Found, Loving Country); Bill Gamage (The Biggest Estate on Earth, First Knoweldges, The Broken Years, Dunera Lives) and Kim Scott (Taboo, That Deadman Dance, True Country.

[11] For more information about the 1967 referendum see: https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/1967-referendum

[12] For more information about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, see: https://www.reconciliation.org.au/a-short-history-of-the-aboriginal-tent-embassy/

[13] Australia Day was first used by all the states and territories (except NSW) to refer to the 26th January in 1935. NSW joined in the naming of Australia Day in 1946. It was only in 1994 that all states and territories began to consistently observe a public holiday on this day. For more information see: https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/australia-day-invasion-day

[14] Invasion Day (also known as Survival Day) has been marked by marches, protests and celebrations of Indigenous culture since 1938. For more information see: https://deadlystory.com/page/culture/Annual_Days/Invasion_Day

[15] The full Statement From the Heart and other information can be found here: https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement/view-the-statement/

[16] For more information about the Native Title Act, see: https://aiatsis.gov.au/about-native-title

[17] For a detailed overview of referenda held in the lands now called Australia, see: https://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/referendums/files/past-referenda-fact-sheet.pdf

[18] A range of analyses of the failure of the Voice referendum can be found here:

23 FLTN 2023 San Antonio FLTN report