Being thought from beyond our borders: Towards ethical global citizenship

<p>This article is a response to the challenge of global citizenship in an age of global crisis. Citizenship has to do with where one feels �at home�, namely the space that gifts identity and life. What kind of narrative is necessary to transform global space into a home from where we can go b...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Johann-Albrecht Meylahn
Format: Article
Language:Afrikaans
Published: AOSIS 2009-09-01
Series:Verbum et Ecclesia
Subjects:
Online Access:http://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/VE/article/view/56
_version_ 1811252438992158720
author Johann-Albrecht Meylahn
author_facet Johann-Albrecht Meylahn
author_sort Johann-Albrecht Meylahn
collection DOAJ
description <p>This article is a response to the challenge of global citizenship in an age of global crisis. Citizenship has to do with where one feels �at home�, namely the space that gifts identity and life. What kind of narrative is necessary to transform global space into a home from where we can go beyond our borders to embrace the other in multidisciplinary research or interfaith praxis? The different models for multidisciplinary research are made possible by the idea that research seeks that which is beyond its borders. This search could be a common space where the different traditions can accommodate one another, but it is not a home. The dominant discourse of this common space is to seek commonality and identities across borders while being aware of but ignoring differences � identity at the expense of differences. A home founded on identity at the expense of difference will always exclude. Theology can either be interpreted as thinking beyond the borders toward the Divine, or the Divine thinking us. The Exodus, the Incarnation and the Cross are all narratives of the Other crossing borders, liberating from boundaries, deconstructing the laws and norms that exclude. The religious traditions of these sacred narratives have something to offer, namely: to be thought by the Other, to receive life and (alien) identity from the Other, the gift of a home which is continuously deconstructed by the home still to come, therefore always open for the Other.</p>
first_indexed 2024-04-12T16:34:29Z
format Article
id doaj.art-41cd2c239bf542fd9a352501c954da69
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1609-9982
2074-7705
language Afrikaans
last_indexed 2024-04-12T16:34:29Z
publishDate 2009-09-01
publisher AOSIS
record_format Article
series Verbum et Ecclesia
spelling doaj.art-41cd2c239bf542fd9a352501c954da692022-12-22T03:25:01ZafrAOSISVerbum et Ecclesia1609-99822074-77052009-09-0130210.4102/ve.v30i2.56144Being thought from beyond our borders: Towards ethical global citizenshipJohann-Albrecht Meylahn0Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria<p>This article is a response to the challenge of global citizenship in an age of global crisis. Citizenship has to do with where one feels �at home�, namely the space that gifts identity and life. What kind of narrative is necessary to transform global space into a home from where we can go beyond our borders to embrace the other in multidisciplinary research or interfaith praxis? The different models for multidisciplinary research are made possible by the idea that research seeks that which is beyond its borders. This search could be a common space where the different traditions can accommodate one another, but it is not a home. The dominant discourse of this common space is to seek commonality and identities across borders while being aware of but ignoring differences � identity at the expense of differences. A home founded on identity at the expense of difference will always exclude. Theology can either be interpreted as thinking beyond the borders toward the Divine, or the Divine thinking us. The Exodus, the Incarnation and the Cross are all narratives of the Other crossing borders, liberating from boundaries, deconstructing the laws and norms that exclude. The religious traditions of these sacred narratives have something to offer, namely: to be thought by the Other, to receive life and (alien) identity from the Other, the gift of a home which is continuously deconstructed by the home still to come, therefore always open for the Other.</p>http://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/VE/article/view/56identityOtherdeconstructionpostmodernismsubjectivity
spellingShingle Johann-Albrecht Meylahn
Being thought from beyond our borders: Towards ethical global citizenship
Verbum et Ecclesia
identity
Other
deconstruction
postmodernism
subjectivity
title Being thought from beyond our borders: Towards ethical global citizenship
title_full Being thought from beyond our borders: Towards ethical global citizenship
title_fullStr Being thought from beyond our borders: Towards ethical global citizenship
title_full_unstemmed Being thought from beyond our borders: Towards ethical global citizenship
title_short Being thought from beyond our borders: Towards ethical global citizenship
title_sort being thought from beyond our borders towards ethical global citizenship
topic identity
Other
deconstruction
postmodernism
subjectivity
url http://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/VE/article/view/56
work_keys_str_mv AT johannalbrechtmeylahn beingthoughtfrombeyondourborderstowardsethicalglobalcitizenship