RETROSPECT
Empire, Resistance,and
International Solidarity By Dr Joerg Rieger
When dealing with conglomerates of power that seek to control everything (my basic definition of empire) movements of solidarity are needed. Moreover, these movements need to develop relations with each other, and so one of the biggest challenges may well be how to build international movements of solidarity. Scholars of theology and religion can make important contributions to this project in various ways, including an in-depth reflection on how images of God have been shaped by the dominant system, what alternative images of God are at work in the various solidarity movements, and how such images can further support movements. Of course, this is not the first time that theologians have been involved in these dynamics; in recent history, several liberation theologies have done this work and in the past there have been theologies of the people which include the hymns of the African American slaves, the peasant theologies of the Middle Ages, and the political theologies of the early Christians, including the work of the apostle Paul.² The task for theologians is, therefore, not to reinvent the wheel but to continue the traditions of theological resistance in the present. Today, class issues are especially critical in forming international movements of solidarity, as they are international by design, due to the global spread of neoliberal capitalism. The fate and the hopes of workers in the United States, whether they realise it or not, are much more intimately connected to workers in other countries than to the ruling class in the United States. Race and ethnicity have often been used in top-down forms of class struggle to cover up precisely this fact, so that white workers are enticed to identify more with their white bosses than with their African American, Latino, or Asian co-workers. Nationalism and patriotism have played their own roles in these struggles. While it may sound paradoxical, working people are also connected by the fact that their employers play them off against each other as well as against the unemployed.
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To be sure, issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality also transcend borders and demand international movements of solidarity. Yet race and ethnicity have different histories in different
This article first appeared in the April 2019 issue of INSiGHT. contexts, and even gender dynamics are not as universal as it may appear. This is why Muslim feminists, for instance, have often had to remind Western feminists that their struggles shape up differently and that what appears oppressive to one group may be a tool of liberation for others.3 Due to the international nature of the class struggle in neoliberal capitalism, even international solidarity in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality can benefit from international solidarity established on the basis of class. In addition, the constructed nature of class reminds us of the constructed nature of gendered, racial, and sexual identities—including national identities—and points towards the possibility of new alliances and reconstruction. A deeper understanding of class will also help us deepen what we currently understand as solidarity. Progressives in the so-called first world have often understood solidarity as a decision of the will to support others who are less fortunate. This mindset has made positive contributions to many important projects, including fair trade, international aid, and advocacy for human rights. At the same time, this kind of solidarity has also led to a certain patronising attitude, especially when things went well, and to burnout, especially when they did not. The next step would be to consider what I am calling deep solidarity.4 Deep solidarity is based on a sense that the majority of us might be in the same boat, that the realities of class tie us together despite all our differences that must not be overlooked. Despite significant differences in terms of economics, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender, there are some things that tie together what the Occupy Wall Street Movement has called the 99 percent, namely the fact that most of us are no longer benefiting as much from the structures of late capitalism as we once did and that we have to work for a living. This fact ties us together across the lines of different religions as well. New interreligious alliances grow out of this struggle, based on a common struggle. As a result, religion can no longer be used as easily to destroy solidarity—a major factor in the past and present—and might contribute to the formation of deeper forms of solidarity.
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