scholarly journals Christian Alterglobalization: How the World Council of Churches Is Inspired by the World Social Forum?

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Kopiec
Keyword(s):  
Free Market ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Global Poverty ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
World Social Forum ◽  
Global Capital ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The One

Globalization becomes one of the chief issues of the activity of the World Council of Churches. As the biggest ecumenical organization, the WCC grasps globalization as being responsible for many tendencies that cause a global social and economic crisis: global poverty, global political instability, wars, economic depressions, crisis of the social institutions and a growing gap between the poor and the well-offs. As the driving force of globalization the WCC indicates the neoliberal free-market philosophy, the one, which is also assumed to be a tool of the global capital to achieve political power. This economic globalization is confronted with a so called alterglobalist vision promoted by the WCC. According to the Genevian organization, alterglobalism understands its objectives as a transformation towards more just social structures and social institutions. Many inspiration of the ecumenical interpretation of globalization is derived from the activity of the World Social Forum, the biggest platform where meet many alterglobalist organizations. Article discusses a basic components of Christian alterglobalism and inquires how they are inspired by the alterglobalist movement.

Amsterdam and the Church's Former Teaching on Social Order

1950 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-49
Author(s):  
Stewart Mechie
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
Social Teaching ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Creative Solutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

None of the findings of the Amsterdam Assembly has excited more interest than that which calls upon the Church to refuse to identify itself with either Communism or laissez-faire Capitalism. On the one hand this finding has brought the World Council of Churches into bad odour with big business circles in America: on the other hand it has caused a certain quiet rejoicing among British Socialists. It is not surprising that Labour supporters in Britain should claim to have the desired solution intermediate between Communism and Capitalism. What is surprising, however, is that some churchmen appear to be inclined to agree. Without being an opponent of Labour one may question the wisdom of such easy acceptance of its views. Would it not be wiser for churchmen to recall the social teaching of the Church in earlier ages and seek there the inspiration for new creative solutions?

Religion, Conflict, and Reconciliation: Ecumenical Initiatives Amidst Human Brokenness and Community Division

2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-111
Author(s):  
Jerald D. Gort
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
Human Capacity ◽  
The One ◽  
Role Of Religion

AbstractAfter reflecting on the ambiguous role of religion in terms of violence, Jerald D. Gort in this article outlines, first, the conditions for true reconciliation among peoples (acknowledgement of Christian complicity; no cheap reconciliation; no utopian enthusiasm; no fatalistic view of human capacity); then, second, he outlines the initiatives ofthe World Council of Churches (WCC) toward justice and reconciliation in the world. Such initiatives involve the struggle against injustice on the one hand and a practice of the "wider ecumenism" (dialogue of histories, theologies, spiritualities, and life) on the other.

The Integrity of Creation and the Social Nature of God

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-290
Author(s):  
Christopher B. Kaiser
Keyword(s):  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council

The idea of the ‘integrity of creation‘ has been widely discussed in ecumenical circles at least since 1983. In that year, the Sixth Assembly of the World Council of Churches (Vancouver) defined its agenda for service in the world in terms of the three rubrics, ‘justice, peace, and the integrity of creation’. A World Convocation on Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation was held in Seoul, Korea, in February 1990.

Porto Alegre 2006: Called to be the One Church: Ecumenism beyond its Crisis?

Exchange ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton Houtepen
Keyword(s):  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Porto Alegre ◽  
Ecumenical Movement ◽  
Religious Plurality ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The One ◽  
Economic Injustice ◽  
The Church

AbstractFrom 9-23 February 2006 the World Council of Churches held its 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brasil with the theme God, in your grace, transform the world. It gathered in an atmosphere of crisis in the ecumenical movement, caused by global political and religious developments, post-modern thinking on the value of plurality and difference and by the slow reception of ecumenical agreements. The Assembly, though, became a sign of hope beyond the ecumenical crisis. Its reflections and proposals on Globalisation and economic injustice, on Christian identity and religious plurality and on Church Unity and the Mission of the Church demonstrate a matured ecumenical and ecclesiological awareness, strengthened by a new method of decision-making by consensus. The document Called to be the one Church might be seen as the constitutional basis for a reconfiguration of the ecumenical movement and as a refinement of the Toronto Declaration of 1950. It formulates a matrix of catholicity and of a legitimate diversity of church forms within an essential convergence about its structures of continuity and mission.

Social and Solidarity Economy in Uruguay

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabel Rieiro
Keyword(s):  
Social Transformation ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Solidarity Economy ◽  
World Social Forum ◽  
Democratic Management ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Socioeconomic Crisis

The social and solidarity economy is a widely used concept to indicate economic logics based on solidarity and the centrality of sustainability in life, differentiating them from the hegemonic economy unilaterally based on rational individualism, the maximization of profits, and the free market. It involves dynamic and specific sociohistoric constructions. In Uruguay, cooperative organizations, which have been in existence for more than a century, are traditionally identified with these types of practices. Cooperativism developed in dialogue with the distinct stages of Uruguayan history and over the last fifteen years, these experiences have tripled, based on the strengthening of public policies for the promotion and support of the sector. Institutional consolidation and the long trajectory of distinct sectors of cooperativism, mutualism, and rural development societies tend to be identified with the social economy. On the other hand, around the dawn of the new century, there emerged a diversity of forms of organization and networks which emphasized the need for social transformation, appealing to practices based on solidarity and reciprocity, both between people and between them and the environment. In general, these are decentralized structures which, in a regional context marked by the socioeconomic crisis and the slogan of the World Social Forum of “another world is possible,” organize economic activities according to the principles of democratic management, cooperation, autonomy, and transformation.

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