Fortress Press

This book brings together, in an exciting and original way, the major themes of critical social theory and feminist theolgy. As feminist theologians continue to confront the larger social implications of their work, they encounter the work of the Frankfurt theorists Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, and Jurgen Habermans—the so-called Frankfurt School—whose dark diagnoses of late modernity also envisioned a future from "the standpoint of redemption" (Adorno). In the Frankfurt School's critique of instrumental reason and domination, as well as its unwavering espousal of justice and freedom, Hewitt shows, feminist theologians may find allies in their own project.

Unfolding through strategic juxtapositions of major theorists from each side, Hewitt's study shows how critical themes emerge in the work of Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Mary Daly, and Rosemary Radford Ruether and how their work provides a starting point for a feminist critical theory of religion. Indeed, she argues, feminist theology may itself be the vehicle for critical correction to the Frankfurt School, for reassessing the transformative potential of Christianity, and for delivering on critical theory's emancipatory potential.

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