Associate Professor of History of Religions and Interfaith Studies Deanna Ferree Womack recently co-edited the volume Alterity and the Evasion of Justice: Explorations of the “Other” in World Christianity, part of the Fortress Press series on World Christianity and Public Religion. The book explores through a liberationist lens what histories, practices, and identities have been ignored or inaccurately characterized within World Christianity,
The book’s contributors span the continents, fostering a global discussion around the “other” in World Christianity and acknowledging that scholars need to give attention to topics on the outskirts of the discipline and those that have been rarely included at all. Among the less-explored areas the book highlights are the intersectional themes of race, gender, and sexuality; the Middle East region; and what the practices of religion and theology look like in post-colonial aboriginal and indigenous communities.
Womack also serves as an editor for the book series Edinburgh Studies in Middle Eastern Christianity, published by Edinburgh University Press. The series places an emphasis on Middle Eastern Christianity throughout history and on contemporary Middle Eastern Christians both in the region and globally, acknowledging them as essential members of religious, political, and social movements in today’s Middle East. The series’ first book, Middle Eastern and European Christianity, 16th-20th Century: Connected Histories by Bernard Heyberger, was published in July 2023.
Both Womack’s new co-edited volume and the Edinburgh Studies book series highlight historical perspectives and traditions of global Christianity, while exploring the consequences of missing crucial voices.