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The article focuses on the preferential option for the poor and its impact on the implementation of social work services in the U.S. It discusses the Latin American liberation theology, the meaning of praxis and the origin of liberation theology's structural sin idea. The definitions of the preferential option for the poor based on the books "Mysterium Liberationis: Fundamental Concepts of Liberation Theology" and "Systematic Theology: Perspectives From Liberation Theology" are cited.

Some scholars suggest that church strength inhibits the rise of liberation theology while church weakness facilitates its emergence. This article argues just the opposite. Drawing on research on state strength, this article argues that strong churches, that is, those that are relatively autonomous and with a well developed capacity to carry out social programs are more likely to develop along liberationist lines. Conversely, weak churches, that is, those that lack autonomy or capacity or both are less likely to develop along liberationist lines. A typology of Latin American Catholicism is developed and the argument is applied to the cases of Chile, Columbia, Mexico and Venezuela. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the Minjung movement in South Korea. The author arrived in South Korea in June 1987 to observe a broad coalition of opposition groups from religious leaders and social dissidents, students and workers to opposition politicians and cultural artists. This was to force a twenty-six year old military dictatorship into a negotiated shift of political power. The liberation movement that had its roots came back in 1987 with incidents of rejection of constitutional reform and torture and execution of a university student.

Based on liberation theology's approach to thought and action, this paper offers a model for "the praxis of social work." The process of this model begins with the existing committed practice of social workers, moves to the role of critical reflection on their social work practice (including a consideration of the role of religion and/or spirituality), and hopefully continues to an improved, more intelligent, and more informed practice of social work. This paper considers the value liberation theology places on praxis as the critical reflection upon committed action. The model is presented as a circular process for how thought and action, particularly theological reflection and social work practice, might inform each other in the life of a social worker who seeks to incorporate the role of faith, religion, and/or spirituality in her or his practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the liberation theology as a model for teaching social justice. The roots of liberation theology are found in the struggle of Latin American theologians to find an appropriate response to the condition of the poor in Latin America. Among the factors contributing to the emergence of liberation theology was a perceived dichotomy between theology and social action. From the perspective of liberation theologians, traditional theology tended to deal with concrete conditions of human suffering in a philosophical manner. Traditional theology also was perceived as supporting the view of religion as a personal or private matter.

This paper uses Liberation Theology as a vehicle for analyzing social movement demobilization due to democratic consolidation in Latin America. Building on social movement organizational literature, a case history is developed of Departamento Ecuménico de Investigaciones (DEI) in San Jose Costa Rica, in order to explore the consequences of formalization and professionalization on movement outcomes. Documentary and interview data are used to provide an account of the ways in which a religious SMO remains active and stable over time when confronted with both institutional repression and socio-political change. Macro organizational analysis is used to determine the relative position DEI in the organizational field while organizational incentive analysis is used to test hypotheses regarding the internal adaptations to exogenous changes that enable the organization to resist attrition and to develop an enduring niche for the maintenance and continuation of Liberation Theology. Contrary to findings of other SMOs, professional movement activists can serve as both initiators of social movements and as entrepreneurs and innovators of new tactics. This study contributes to the body of knowledge regarding social movement demobilization of a religious movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undoubtedly one of his most famous quotes, Karl Marx once described religion as the "opium of the people." However, a close reading of the text surrounding this oft cited passage suggests that Marx recognized the potential power of religion for protest and revolutionary change. While criminological conflict theorists in the Marxist tradition have tended to emphasize the ways in which religion perpetuates false consciousness, there are also examples of theorists noting religion's potential for enabling class-based social movements. In the Catholic religious tradition, the impact of "liberation theology" in Latin America illustrates the duality of Marx's position on religion and class consciousness. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern Catholic social teaching has been fundamentally concerned with the ethical question of how society ought to be organized. Traced to the publication of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891), the agenda set by social Catholicism has been the search for a more just society. A central concern of the church throughout the 20th century has been the promotion and implementation of the values of the teaching. Yet this has varied greatly both temporally and spatially. This poster session will summarize research conducted for my dissertation which is about the relationship between Catholic Social Teaching and its unlikely offspring in Latin America, an oppositional social movement, liberation theology. I argue that the roots of liberation theology are found in the institutions inspired by Catholic Social Teaching, also known as social Catholicism. The dissertation, drawing on a fine-grained analysis of the case of Mexico and a coarse-grained analysis of seven other countries posits that variation in the strength of social Catholicism, and thus liberation theology, in Latin America can best be explained by the character of secularization in each country. The study will contribute to scholarly work in social movements, secularization, liberation theology, and ongoing debates about the meaning of Catholic social teaching for the modern world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]