Crossing Borders: Religious Education for Gender Equity in a Neoliberal Society

Abstract

AbstractGender conflict, which is emerging as a serious concern in Korean society, is also a subject of discourse in the field of education. A vast majority of university students are affected by economic downturn and are required to compete in an uncertain situation. This study proposes an educational model from the perspective of understanding the younger generation, which is struggling in uncertain situations, rather than treating gender conflict merely as hatred between individual women and men. This paper also proposes an educational environment wherein students feel encouraged to deal with gender conflicts by understanding their liminal spaces and crossing borders for gender equity.Keywords: Gender equityneoliberalismwomen’s movement in Koreagender conflictfeminism reboot Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Notes1 While explaining the brief history of feminist theology, Rosemary Radford Ruether (Citation2002) describes many Hispanic and Asian women as cross-border theologians who are immigrants or visitors (10). Julie Browne (Citation2019) explains her experience as a medical educator and professor living in liminal spaces. She performs at least two professional roles, and she seeks to develop a mental attitude of living more comfortably in the in-between spaces (4–8). I define all theologians as inherently cross-border theologians, living in a liminal space. We all have an important theological task that constantly transgresses the boundary between the Realm of God and this world, between Christian tradition and human experiences, and between theology and human sciences. We, as educators living in liminal spaces, are also required to cross borders between teachers and students, between classroom and reality, and between knowledge and practice.2 The five phases of the Korean women's movement are those classified by the author, focusing on major events that occurred in the history of the women's movement and major changes in Korean society.3 By clarifying the relationship between identity and experience, Macdonald contends that experiences are causally related to their identities, but not in a deterministic way (Macdonald Citation2002, 122–127).Additional informationNotes on contributorsHyun-Sook KimHyun-Sook Kim is a professor of Christian Education at the United Graduate School of Theology at Yonsei University and Director of the Center for Gender Equity at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. E-mail: hyunskim@yonsei.ac.kr