Allen, C (2016) Food Poverty and Christianity in Britain: A Theological Re-assessment. Political Theology, 17 (4). pp. 361-377. ISSN 1462-317X

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Abstract

The Christian response to food poverty in Britain has generally been two-fold. Foodbanks have become synonymous with Christianity and exemplify its charitable ethos. However, Christian churches have also called for social justice so that people can buy food in the normal way. Both responses are theologically problematic. The idea of foodbank is borne of a privileged theology that celebrates charitable giving, despite the humiliation it invites on recipients. Although social justice approaches originate in human rights discourse, the location of these rights in food consumerism means that it is equally privileged. Drawing on contextual and liberation theology, as well as ideas from radical orthodoxy, I argue that food poverty is better understood when we assign epistemological privilege to the poor. This leads me to advocate an alternative Christian response to food poverty.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Political Theology on 06 May 2016 available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1179/1743171914Y.0000000004
Uncontrolled Keywords:	2204 Religion And Religious Studies, 1606 Political Science, 2203 Philosophy
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BV Practical Theology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform J Political Science > JC Political theory
Divisions:	Humanities & Social Science
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Date Deposited:	13 Feb 2017 12:16
Last Modified:	02 Aug 2022 14:18
DOI or ID number:	10.1179/1743171914Y.0000000004
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/2423

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