A couple of years ago, I found myself surrounded by respected faculty colleagues, discussing a book proposal that I was preparing. The topic of the book is economics and animal ethics, an area of significant disagreement. My own convictions are well-outside the mainstream for Christian economists in the Mid-west, and I am a junior faculty member, so I was somewhat taken back when a colleague asked “Is this book going to be objective? Or will it be advocacy?†I wanted to answer “Yes.†[Read more…] about Activism in the Academy
economics
Scholar’s Compass: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty
Reading
Reflection
Last fall I took a course on institutional management theory, where I was introduced to economist Albert Hirschman, whose slim volume titled Exit, Voice, and Loyalty has seen wide-ranging influence since its publication in 1970. The book “virtually revived the field of political economy,†American Prospect editor Robert Kuttner writes in an article memorializing Hirschman, who died in late 2012. [Read more…] about Scholar’s Compass: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty
The Jamaica Call to Action (Part 2): Ten ‘Calls’
The Jamaica Call to Action is unique not only in the two concise convictions on which the document is based (see the previous post), but also because of the comprehensive and specific ‘Calls’ that make up the core of the document. These cover everything from lifestyle to theology to economics to agriculture.
Here is a brief analysis of these calls and the fields of study to which they apply:
- For all of us: #1. A new commitment to a simple lifestyle. Lausanne actually called for a simple lifestyle in one of the early documents of the movement (Lausanne Occasional Paper #20), a call that we understand anecdotally was controversial even in 1980. This call leads the list as a recognition that nothing we attempt corporately will matter much if it does not come out of lives that are committed to action as well as words. Living “within the proper boundaries of God’s good gift in creation†is an implicit acknowledgement that we live in a limited, closed system, and that self-restraint is not only necessary but good.
- For theologians: #2. New and robust theological work. [Read more…] about The Jamaica Call to Action (Part 2): Ten ‘Calls’
Q&A with Acton Institute’s Jordan Ballor (and a Free Subscription)
This summer, I posted a link to the Acton Institute‘s Calihan Fellowship on the ESN Facebook Page without really thinking much besides, “Oh, here’s some grant money for someone out there.” I never expected that it would lead to the most vigorous conversation to date on our Facebook Page, ranging from disagreements about the Acton Institute in particular to broader issues of politics, academia, and theology. This certainly caught my attention, since ESN, in general, doesn’t host all that many internal controversies. Jordan J. Ballor, Research Fellow with the Acton Institute and Executive Editor of their Journal of Markets & Morality, also noticed the online conversation, and, with Tom Grosh’s help, he and I were able to connect and set up this Q&A with him about the Acton Institute.
Free subscription: Additionally, Jordan has generously offered a 2-year complimentary digital subscription to the Journal of Markets & Morality for student members of ESN and student readers of the ESN blog. To take advantage of this offer, email Assistant Editor Dylan Pahman to set up your online account, which also includes access to the two most recent issues.
Thank you to Jordan for  his time and willingness to correspond.
Mike Hickerson: How did you come to be involved with the Acton Institute?
Jordan Ballor: I was introduced to Acton through one of the programs for future religious leaders during my time as a student at Calvin Theological Seminary. I attended a “Toward a Free & Virtuous Society†conference in Techny, Illinois, in 2002. These “TFAVS,†as they are called in the office, are intensive weekends of 15-20 seminarians and graduate students, introducing them to the relationship between economics and faith. Upon my return to Grand Rapids, I realized that this was precisely the sort of place that I wanted to work, so I applied for an internship at Acton. It was a good fit for me, in part because I was focusing on an academic career in theology rather than a pastoral calling, so I was looking for a place that I could do write and do research. After some time as an intern, I took on a regular part-time position as I continued graduate study, and eventually took a full-time position last June (2010) as research fellow and executive editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality. [Read more…] about Q&A with Acton Institute’s Jordan Ballor (and a Free Subscription)
Do We See the People or Their Poverty?
Kami Rice continues her guest series for the Emerging Scholars Blog about her journey to India. Â
Since the day my high school youth group reported to our congregation about our mission trip to Brazil, when some of the other kids–some of whom had discussed, as we drove through Miami during our debriefing time, which fancy new car they wanted their parents to buy for them–poured stories into the microphone about how poor the people were, I’ve had an uneasy relationship with how church people talk about poverty.
I didn’t think the people we met in Brazil seemed all that poor. I had jaunted off on my own with some of the Brazilian youth group girls on several occasions, so I had seen more of their lives than most of my teammates had. But maybe I had missed something? Like maybe a gene for compassion?
This morning I worked on a writing project that included a scene from my first ever visit to a slum. That slum was in Kenya. This afternoon I visited an Indian slum.
And once again, as in Kenya and as in Brazil before that, I was struck more by what the people I met today have than what they don’t have. After spending a couple hours joining in on a tell-Bible-stories-through-henna-designs class with young girls and then briefly meeting widows praising God during a church service–all part of an expansive outreach founded by an Indian family–my hosts and I departed, following one of the pastors through a narrow walkway with low buildings and their front doors squeezing close on either side. Some of the doors were open, giving momentary glimpses into small but orderly spaces where TVs occasionally glowed into the gathering dimness. [Read more…] about Do We See the People or Their Poverty?