REL 1.10 Religion and Social Struggle
This course examines twentieth and twenty-first century social struggles through a religious lens. Karl Marx famously described religion as the “opiate of the masses.” In practice, however, religion has been a resource for resistance as well as a mechanism of control. Drawing on case studies from the U.S. and Latin America, this course analyses how both sides of a conflict understand and deploy religious concepts. How do those in power approach religion? How does this differ from how those outside power structures mobilize it? How do uses of religion evolve to accommodate different cultural contexts and new political circumstances? These are some of the questions this course will consider in preparation for analyzing contemporary movements such as Standing Rock and Black Lives Matter.