“Toward a Political Theology of Postcoloniality” - Kwok Pui Lan

Kwok Pui Lan, Dean’s Professor of Systematic Theology at Emory’s Candler School of Theology, gave the annual Bartlett Lecture at Yale Divinity School on Monday, December 6, 2021. Dr. Kwok spoke on “Toward a Political Theology of Postcoloniality.” An internationally known theologian, Kwok Pui Lan has authored and edited numerous books on Asian and Asian American feminist theology, biblical interpretation, and postcolonial criticism. Her publications include Postcolonial Politics and Theology (forthcoming); Globalization, Gender, and Peacebuilding: Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology; and Discovering the Bible in the Non-Biblical World. She is also the editor of Women and Christianity in four volumes. The holder of a doctorate from Harvard University, Dr. Kwok is past president of the American Academy of Religion and has lectured across the United States as well as in Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. In her YDS Bartlett Lecture, Kwok argues for a genealogy of political theory rooted not in Carl Schmitt’s Political Theology –which is read not only in the Western academy but in Asia as well—but in transnational and multicultural sources. She will discuss what has been dubbed “Schmitt fever” in China to underscore the need to assess the German jurist’s work cross-culturally and to outline a comparative theology of postcoloniality. - The Bartlett Lectureship was created in 1986 with a gift from the Rev. Robert M. Bartlett, 1924 B.D. and his wife, Sue Bartlett. The lectureship serves a twofold purpose. The first is to foster knowledge and appreciation of the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and their contribution to the religious, intellectual, and political life of America. The second is to encourage understanding of the history and culture of modern China. These two areas are treated on a rotating basis. In 1992 the Bartletts added to their gift and broadened the scope to include “Democracy, Human Rights, and World Peace.”