God/City/Place
Principal Speakers at this event:
Prof Edward Soja, Dept. of Urban Planning, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), author of Postmetropolis: Critical Studies of Cities and Regions (2000).
Prof Sigurd Bergmann, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, author of Creation Set Free: The Spirit as the Liberator of Nature (2005).
Prof Timothy Gorringe, University of Exeter, UK, author of A Theology of the Built Environment (2003).
Over the last 30 years, a body of literature has been published on the theme of a critical theory of space. Indeed, Prof Soja is one of the leading contributors to this development. While much attention has been paid to 'the historical and 'the social' in critical theory, the matter of 'the spatial' was, it was claimed, under-theorised. This effort to promote space as a crucial category of critical theory has many sources: the multi-layered crises shaking the world's largest cities, a postmodern turn that sought to explore issues synchronically as well as diachronically, and environmental concerns regarding the use and abuse of spaces. From the perspective of the western religions, space has also been an important theme: the 'Holy Land' of Israel and pilgrimages are two obvious examples. As the religions have turned their attention to consideration of cities (where most religious adherents in the West now live) and ecological spaces, religious theorists - including theologians - have addressed the theme of space and have begun to draw on the critical theory of space.
- Conference Report (Microsoft Word, 27 KB)
- Conference Introductory Remarks (Microsoft Word, 35 KB)
