Call for Papers: Progressive Evangelicalism

by Brantley Gasaway

In light of the responses to Ray Haberski's excellent question--"Where is the Historiography of the New Religious Left?--over at U.S. Intellectual History blog and cross-posted here a few days, I wanted to post the call for papers below. I am guest-editing a special issue devoted to "Progressive Evangelicalism" of Religions, an international and interdisciplinary open access journal published online.

As Janine Giordano noted in her comment, there are many young(er) historians who are completing book manuscripts or dissertation projects on different aspects of the more recent religious left--and several of these are already lined up to contribute to this special issue of Religions. Here is the call for papers:

Although the Religious Right has represented the popular face of American evangelicals' political engagement since the late 1970s, a minority of politically progressive evangelical leaders have promoted an alternative public agenda over the past four decades. Representatives such as Sojourners' Jim Wallis, Evangelicals for Social Action's Ron Sider, and Tony Campolo have insisted that Christians have a religious responsibility to prioritize reforms of injustices and inequalities in their political participation. In recent years, progressive evangelical leaders have increasingly captured the attention of evangelical audiences, journalists, politicians, and scholars. In the process, they have reinvigorated debates within American evangelical circles about the nature and priorities of Christians' social and political activism. 

Yet socially and politically progressive evangelicalism is neither a recent nor uniquely American phenomenon. Thus this special issue of Religions explores both historical and contemporary expressions of progressive evangelicalism, not only within the United States but also in international contexts. Scholars are invited to contribute articles from a broad range of methodological approaches that analyze progressive evangelicals and their efforts to confront social injustices and inequalities.

Please see here for more information and instructions--including the first abstract from Shawn David Young regarding a paper from his work on Jesus People USA.

Spread the word to those whose work is relevant. I'm looking forward to gathering some of the most recent scholarship on the evangelical left in this special issue.

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