Hauptinhalt

Academic Program

The conference will be accessible in English, German and Spanish. (To see full program, please swipe right. Download the program as a pdf.)

Wednesday, 20.08.

Keynote I

Prof. Dr. Maren Niehoff, Max Cooper Professor of Jewish Thought, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem:
Equality in Rabbinic Literature? Different Perspectives on Women’s Obligations and Rights.

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  “Positive Commandments that Depend on Time are Incumbent only on Men, but not on Women”. Rabbinic Definitions of Women’s Obligations and Rights. This lecture investigates the earliest definitions of women’s legal status, initially defined in the Mishnah and then interpreted in the Tosefta, the Halachic Midrashim and the Jerusalem Talmud. It will be shown that rabbinic literature does not express one homogeneous voice, but rather negotiates different positions based on various hermeneutic and ethical principles. Regarding women’s obligations, the concepts range from notions that each family member has a specific role to sexual stereotypes.

Thursday, 21.08.

Main Talk

Prof. Dr. Katja Winkler, Assistant-Professor at Institut für Christliche Sozialwissenschaften der Katholischen Privat-Universität Linz:
Befähigung und Nachhaltigkeit. Reflexionen zum Gerechtigkeitskonzept Martha Nussbaums

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  Der Capabilities Approach von Martha Nussbaum und Amartya Sen ist einer der einflussreichsten ethischen Entwürfe der Gegenwart, der die Gerechtigkeitsdiskussionen über Menschenrechte, wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und globale Armut maßgeblich geprägt hat. Zum Menschsein gehört für Nussbaum der "Bezug zu anderen Spezies und zur Natur". Sie betont, dass es gerechtigkeitsrelevant ist, dass jede:r die Fähigkeit hat, "in Anteilnahme für und in Beziehungen zu Tieren, Pflanzen und zur Welt der Natur zu leben" (Nussbaum 1999). So greift sie schon recht früh die Themen ökologische Gerechtigkeit und Nachhaltigkeit in ihrer Sozialethik auf. In neueren Veröffentlichungen reflektiert sie dann mit Blick auf "Gerechtigkeit für Tiere" (Nussbaum 2023) anthropozentristische Konzepte. Im Vortrag wird herausgearbeitet, inwiefern soziale Gerechtigkeit nach Nussbaum nicht ohne die ökologische Komponente zu denken ist.

Interreligious Podium: Justice in Sacred Scriptures

Prof. Dr. Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, Professor of Jewish Thought, Vice President for Global Engagement, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev:
Justice in Rabbinic sources

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  I will explore the theme of justice as depicted in rabbinic sources, focusing on interpretations mostly from Talmud and Midrash within the context of late antiquity. I will also compare these Jewish perspectives on justice with contemporaneous Christian sources to highlight similarities and divergences in ethical and legal reasoning. This comparative analysis aims to provide a deeper understanding of how these two religious traditions addressed questions of justice and morality in their respective cultural and historical milieus.

Dr. Carola Roloff, Senior Research Fellow an der Fakultät für Erziehungswissenschaft der Universität Hamburg; zuvor Gastprofessorin für Buddhismus an der Akademie der Weltreligionen der Universität Hamburg (2018–2025). Mitbegründerin der internationalen buddhistischen Frauenbewegung Sakyadhita:
Equanimity and Justice: Buddhist Perspectives on Universal Capabilities and Intersectional Challenges

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  In this presentation, Dr. Carola Roloff explores how the Buddhist concepts of the Four Immeasurables—love, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity—can be linked with Martha Nussbaum's ideas of universal human capabilities to promote sustainable justice. Particular attention will be given to how these teachings can contribute to addressing complex social inequalities shaped by gender, class, and other intersectional factors.
  
  In diesem Vortrag untersucht Dr. Carola Roloff, wie buddhistische Konzepte der Vier Unermesslichen — Liebe, Mitgefühl, Mitfreude und Gleichmut — sich mit Martha Nussbaums Ideen universeller menschlicher Fähigkeiten verknüpfen lassen, um nachhaltige Gerechtigkeit zu fördern. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit wird darauf gelegt, wie diese Lehren dazu beitragen können, komplexe soziale Ungleichheiten, die durch Geschlecht, Klasse und weitere intersektionale Faktoren entstehen, zu adressieren.

Prof. Dr. Mira Sievers, Professorin für Islamische Theologie, Universität Hamburg:
Balanced Creation: A Quranic Approach to Justice

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  This paper seeks to explore theologically the subject of divine justice, focusing on the evolution of the concept of ʿadl in Qur’anic discourse. Initially associated with God’s harmonious creation of humanity, the term undergoes a semantic shift, eventually signifying equitable human conduct, especially in the contexts of testimony and judgment. This reveals the foundation of divine justice in creation theology. By specifically addressing the issue of gender inequality, the paper argues for prioritizing the foundational principle of justice as outlined in Qur’anic theology over other normative constructs in order to reconcile different Islamic normative frameworks.

Prof. Dr. Ekaterini Tsalampouni, Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Theology and History of New Testament Era, Aristoteles Universität Thessaloniki, Greece:  
Justice in the Bible from a Christian-Orthodox Perspective 

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  In a world marked by growing social disparities, war conflicts, and environmental degradation, the call for justice resonates with increasing urgency across global communities. For Christians, the Bible remains the fundamental source of spiritual and ethical guidance. Its prophetic challenge of injustices and its call for justice is, therefore, vital for promoting an ethos of justice and of resistance to all forms of injustice among the members of Christian communities. This paper examines the biblical witness to justice from the perspective of Orthodox tradition and theology. In the first part, the possible distinct features of such an Orthodox hermeneutical approach will be briefly discussed.
  Furthermore, their possible contribution to an inter-Christian and interreligious discussion of justice will be highlighted. In the second part, it will be argued that the biblical call for justice is particularly important in the current situation of the Orthodox Churches, esp. in Europe, most significantly in these times of conflict and war. More concretely, the relevance of the biblical call for justice will be critically discussed in the following four areas: a) war and the role of the Orthodox Churches in contemporary geopolitical conflicts, b) the ecclesiastical structures and fair representation and participation of women and laity in them, c) the acknowledgment of minority groups in Orthodox congregations, and d) the ecological crisis and eco-justice.

Keynote II

Prof. Dr. Christine Helmer, Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Humanities, Professor of German and of Religious Studies at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA:
Justice and the Freedom to Think: How does Theology Relate to Politics? 

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  Justice as in important—perhaps the most important—concept inspiring theologians today. Liberation theology was an early catalyst for this development that has expanded throughout and oriented many different areas of theological work, namely gender/sex, race, ecology, race, and multispecies conceptualities. In my talk I offer an overview of the theological turn to justice in contemporary theology and address a number of questions I think are significant. What distinguishes theology from politics when much of the liberatory orientation in theology is carried out by theologians who embody the very subject matter for which they are advocating justice? What does thinking have to do with action and how does theology configure this relation? How can the turn to justice help us reimagine theology as a scholarly vocation in a time of polycrisis and why is the freedom to think central to this vocation? I use Max Weber and Hannah Arendt as major conversation partners, in addition to beautiful and insightful works by Melanie Harris, Lyndsey Stonebridge, and Sarah Schmidt.

Friday, 22.08. 

Interreligious Podium: Ecotheologies in Dialogue

Dr. Ayşe Almıla Akca, Postdoc am Lehrstuhl für Islamische Religionspädagogik, Institut für Islamische Theologie und Religionspädagogik, Universität Innsbruck:
Sacred Stewardship in Tension: Navigating the Ecological Commitments of Muslim Faith Leaders in the German Context

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  This paper adopts a lived religion approach and engages with the complex intersection of environmental ethics, religious leadership, and communal negotiation. It foregrounds "ecological leadership" as an analytical framework to examine how Muslim faith leaders in Germany engage with ecological agendas. Drawing on original empirical research, it addresses the questions of how and to what extent these leaders interpret and assume theological responsibility for integrating ecological values and practices into Islamic traditions. The point of departure is the observation that ecological conversion and environmentally oriented practices within religious leadership often intersect with reframing theological messages and decolonial visions of justice and healing. However, Muslim communities in Germany frequently perceive ecological agendas as peripheral – or even alien – to their religious priorities and local socio-economic realities. This paper discusses the processes through which faith leaders pursue ecological transformation and the strategies they employ to pursue their environmental commitments in the face of intra-communal opposition.

Prof. Dr. Julia Enxing, Professorin für Fundamentaltheologie, Ruhr Universität Bochum:
Christian Approaches to a Critical Anthropocentrism

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  Rethinking the coexistence of creatures in a multi-species society means challenging the learned and traded image of “the human”. But how can this be done? What can it mean being Imago Dei and yet only one animal among others? What is the potential of a critical anthropocentrism for a theology in the Anthropocene?

Prof. Dr. Arnfríður Guðmundsdóttir, Professor for Systematic Theology, with emphasis on Feminist Theology, University of Iceland:
A New Climate is Calling for a New Language

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  The imminent climate crisis is presenting a challenge for Christian theologians who want to address pressing questions about God, and what it means to be a part of God’s creation in a world threatened by multiple consequences of a changing climate. In recent years it has become clear that serious reevaluations and reinterpretations are called for, before words, concepts, ideas, symbols or metaphors, as we know them from the tradition, can be put into use. My aim in this presentation is to analyse few examples from the contemporary ecological language, which I think are essential for a critical theological discourse about life on earth which is facing a climate catastrophe.

Dr. Pragati Sahni, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University Dehli, India:
Environmental Justice in the Early Buddhist Nikāyas and the Bhagavadgītā: Exploring Possibilities

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  Environmental justice as ‘the idea that all groups of people live in a clean and safe environment’* is a complex topic with multiple dimensions, open to many questions and debates. However, there is no doubt of the legitimacy of its basis: environmental resources are unevenly distributed and the effects of climate change and waste disposal, air pollution and deforestation are more severe for some human beings than for others, across different places but often even within the same place.  Religion on the other hand is frequently considered dogmatic and individualistic, equally subject to complications and disagreements, so much so that its contribution to environmental justice may sometimes be considered suspect. Academically and practically, in order to overcome opacity, both areas require a layered, multifaceted understanding, a method of unravelling, that can then also be used as the foundation of relating one to the other. In this presentation I will be considering specific aspects of environmental justice and of two ancient religions: Hinduism (through the Bhagavadgītā) and Buddhism (through the Pali Nikāyas). My objective is to investigate if the examples, principles and values that can be found within the texts of these religions can relate to environmental justice; in other words, the question whether these religions contain concepts that can support the levelling out or resolution of the unequal availability of environmental resources as well as of the unequal consequences of environmental modification will be explored.  Buddhist responses to consumption and wealth, duties and extent of responsibility as well as to justice, equality and fair treatment of others can be looked at to construct a framework that can be related to some facets that often come up with reference to environmental justice. On the other hand, the Bhagavadgītā with its focus on the individual’s duty and responsibility can be investigated to decipher what is owed to others, a key component of justice in its relational aspect. The larger question of whether such justice frameworks can be extended to the environment will then be addressed. In order to limit the scope of my paper, I will closely work on the problematization of certain concepts such as responsibility (whether there is basis for its extension to the community or to unknown others) and compassion (as the basis of justice). The paper will also attempt to highlight limitations of and inconsistencies within these religions in the matter. In all, the paper proposes to develop a comprehensive, introductory perspective that appraises the feasibility of these two religions in contributing to environmental justice.

Sa 23.08. 

Main Talks: Social Justice

Neus Forcano i Aparicio, Director of Justícia i Pau Barcelona; Religious Science Studies at ISCREB and member of Journal "Iglesia Viva" on Critical Thinking and Cristianism: 
Sed de agua viva. Actitud ética a favor de la justicia social y ecológica desde una visión ecoteológica y feminista / Thirst for living water. Ethical attitude in favour of social and ecological justice from a feminist and ecotheological vision

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  Based on different collective experiences of struggle around the value, uses and conflicts with water, this lecture aims to address what ethical attitudes and theological framework can contribute to the necessary personal and collective self-emancipation, as well as how could we re-establish our link with nature. From an intersectional and ecofeminist perspective, we will explore what it means to awaken a deep desire for living water in the light of Jesus' dialogue with the Samaritan woman (Jn 4). What could the perspective of an integral Christology and Political Theology offer for a new fraternity and sisterhood in communion with Creation? How could we build communities of meaning, hope and commitment to social and ecological justice?

  A partir de diferentes experiencias colectivas de lucha alrededor del valor, usos y conflictos con el agua, esta conferencia pretende abordar qué actitudes éticas y marco teológico pueden contribuir a la necesaria autoemancipación personal y colectiva, así como al restablecimiento del vínculo con la naturaleza y el cuidado del medio ambiente. Desde una perspectiva interseccional y ecofeminista, nos preguntaremos qué significa despertar el deseo profundo por el agua viva teniendo en cuenta el diálogo de Jesús con la mujer samaritana (Jn 4). ¿Qué presupuestos de una cristología integral y una teología política pueden motivar una fraternidad y sororidad nuevas en comunión con toda la Creación?  ¿Cómo podemos construir comunidades de sentido, esperanzadas, y comprometidas con la justicia social y ecológica? 

Prof. Dr. Marianne Kartzow, Professor for New Testament, Oslo University, Norway:
Neighbors in Peace and War: An Intersectional Down to Earth Exegesis

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  In this lecture my point of departure will be recent exegetical analysis of the New Testament and other religious texts, in which the ambiguous figure of the neighbor appears. Inspired by eco-hermeneutics and intersectional perspectives, I will employ examples, contemporary and historical, from the Baltic-Nordic neighborhood. I will present findings from a recent interdisciplinary study of religion and gender equality in the region. In conflict or co-existence, neighbors seem to be crucial. How can the shared invitation to “love thy neighbor” be revitalized in the age of routine global crises?