Criticism of theology : on Marxism and theology III / / by Roland Boer.

• Superior document: Historical materialism book series, v. 27
• Author: Boer, Roland, 1961-
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Historical materialism book series ; 27.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (368 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Criticism of Theology provides a detailed and critical commentary on the continued fascination with religion by yet more significant Marxist philosophers, historians and critics: Max Horkheimer, E.P. Thompson, G.E.M. de Ste. Croix, Michael Löwy, Roland Barthes, Gilles Deleuze, Felix Guattari and Antonio Negri. Simultaneously critique and construction, Criticism of Theology carefully analyses their work through close textual readings, with a view to locating hidden gems that may be developed further. The book continues the project for a renewed and enlivened interaction between Marxism and religion, being the third of five volumes in the Criticism of Heaven and Earth series.

Table of Contents

1. The Superstitions of Max Horkheimer -- Religion as resistance -- Longing for the totally other -- The founder -- On freedom and the individual -- Atheism and resistance -- Honest religion -- Religion betrayed -- The state -- On the Jewish state -- Liberal theology -- Religion in the bad sense, or, the dialectic of evil -- Conclusion: Modalities of the dialectic of religion -- 2. The Dissent of E.P. Thompson -- Corrupt parsons and the impetuous Irish -- The 'psychic terror' of Methodism -- Religious terrorism -- Moral machinery -- Political reaction -- Radicals in the ranks -- The ambivalence of the Methodists -- William Blake and the politics of radical dissent -- Antinomianism, or, justification by faith -- Muggletonian Marxists -- Radical dissent -- Poetry and apocalyptic -- Anti-nuclear -- Political Christmas -- Conclusion -- 3. The Zeal of G.E.M. de Ste. Croix -- The politics of style -- Theology -- Chora versus polis -- From chora to polis: property, slavery and women -- Assessment -- Fall narratives -- On contradiction -- Religion as primary cause -- ... And history -- Class -- Trade and property -- Mode of production -- Conclusion: Ste. Croix among Marxists and theologians -- 4. The Alchemy of Michael Löwy -- Elective affinities -- Emergence -- Untidy corners and sexy dialectics -- Liberation theology -- Roman-Catholic social teaching -- The ontological reserve -- One or many? -- Conclusion -- 5. The Myths of Roland Barthes -- Between description and accusation -- Basics -- Baleful deformations of language -- Desperate resistance -- Dialectics of opposition -- Hiding something? -- Producing and concealing opposition -- Preserving rebellion -- The cunning of myth -- Alternative myths -- Towards utopia -- Conclusion -- 6. The Flights of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari -- Going tribal, or, primitive pre-signifiers -- Numbers and nomads, or, the counter-signifying régime -- In bed with the despot, or, the signifying régime -- The scapegoat's arse -- From outside to inside -- Oriental despots -- On the tail of the scapegoat, or, the post-signifying régime -- Conclusion -- 7. The Radical Homiletics of Antonio Negri -- Radical homiletics -- Philosophical commentary -- Kairós and ákairos -- Measure and immeasure -- The politics of cosmogony -- Negri's aporia -- Excursus on the Messiah -- Back to the whirlwind -- Conclusion.