Hauerwas: A (Very) Critical Introduction

Abstract

strategies for coping with the stresses that arise from their engagement with scriptures that they read as problematic. Ina ter Avest offers the results of qualitative research conducted in several European countries which investigated learners’ responses to diversity in RE in secondary education. Part III explores the impact of migration on religious and gender identity (re-)formation in the diaspora. Several chapters in this section focus on Islam in Western contexts; two chapters consider formal education in Israel, specifically its opportunities and challenges for Palestinian and Druze women. The only substantial material on men is found in Part IV which engages sexuality, masculinity, the body and gendered space. Two qualitative studies investigate homophobic bullying in Catholic high schools in the US, and Australian teenage boys’ spirituality and religiosity, respectively. The final short section focuses on the themes of human and gender rights, equality, and secularism. Readers might find much contentious food for thought in Lynn Davies’ recommendation of what she calls “inclusive secular education” as a means of “challenging the more subordinating aspects of particular religious —and cultural interpretations—of what adherence to a faith entails” (p. 339). The strength of the collection lies in the authors’ attention to the diverse and often contradictory ways in which gender, religion and education intersect and challenge each other. Definitions of oppression and liberation, and their tools and agents are usefully interrogated from a number of disciplinary perspectives. The wealth of specific geographic and thematic case studies will be of interest to educators, academics, and students working in particular contexts. Therefore I commend the publisher’s offer of individual chapters for paid download because it makes this volume more affordable and more accessible.