Seminar with Dr Stefan Skrimshire: Liturgies of lament in contemporary religious eco-activism

On 30th March, the Centre for Religion and Public Life is hosting a research seminar with Dr Stefan Skrimshire who will speak about:

Liturgies of lament in contemporary religious eco-activism

According to some broad definitions of “liturgy”, most political protests could be considered liturgical. But even by a narrower theological definition, I suggest that protest and activism, extinction activism in particular, has recently gotten a lot more liturgical. Why is that? I argue that an increasingly visible desire to take “eco-grief” – acknowledging or anticipating grief for ecological loss – into the public realm, is inviting more liturgical approaches to protest, and reviving interest in both the religious and political meanings of lament. To make that claim I will draw on recent observations of XR protests in the UK as well as reflections on some shifting emphases of environmental activism more generally.

Dr Stefan Skrimshire is Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds. His academic interests centre around the question how Christian thought continues to shape and inform political life, particularly in relation to climate change activism.

Attendance

You are welcome to join the seminar in person, or online via MS Teams.