Subaltern Public Theology

This book delves into the public character of public theology from the sites of subalternity, the excluded Dalit (non) public in the Indian public sphere.  Raj Bharat Patta employs a decolonial methodology and explores the topic in three parts: First, he engages with ‘theological contexts,’ by mapping global and Indian public theologies and critically analysing them. Next, he discusses ‘theological companions,’ and explains ‘theological subalternity’ and ‘subaltern public’ as companions for a subaltern public theology for India. Finally, Patta explains ‘theological contours’ by discussing subaltern liturgy as a theological account of the subaltern public and explores a subaltern public theology for India. 

“How might we construct a truly public theology from the position and sites of subalternity in India? Taking on this challenge, Patta very helpfully shows us how liturgy might be a productive theological and public site to make a subaltern public theology visible. Deficiencies in subalternity and definitions of public theology, anti-liturgical liturgies of caste, subaltern liturgy, the immanent God, are some among the many important and significant themes that are addressed in this interesting and beneficial book.” (Monica Jyotsna Melanchthon, Associate Professor, Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, University of Divinity, Australia)

“The book offers a detailed discussion on the significance of subaltern public theology in India which, in fact, opens up new avenues in the political process of building a subaltern public space. The subaltern public theology, as this book proposes, envisages a common theo-political ground for all disenfranchised people in this country who are silenced and muted in the public discourses for centuries under the hegemonic systems of domination like casteism, racism, and patriarchy. Envisaging the subaltern public theology as a counter-epistemological, counter-liturgical, and anti-imperial radical theology, it foresees a universal subaltern political space of ‘mutually shared vulnerabilities’ while ensuring the ‘irreducible singularities’ of the subalterns over against the homogenization project of globalization and the syncretic tendencies of neo-capitalism. This book, on the other hand, embarks a radical turn in the global postcolonial theological traditions and envisions a paradigm shift in Indian Christian Theology in favor of the marginalized and the disenfranchised. Of course, this is a precious gift for the radical theologians who wish to be haunted by the ever-silenced voices of the subaltern!” (Y.T. Vinayaraj, Director, The Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society (CISRS) and author of Dalit Theology after Continental Philosophy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016)).

“Being aware of Public Theology’s task as one of seeking relevance to the larger society and theologically interrogating the public sphere at the same time, Raj Bharat Patta masterfully argues that public theology in India can truly be public only by letting itself be tested by its accountability to the Dalit question. This work is an invitation to a Dalit theologian to engage with public theology and a Public theologian to engage with caste reality. A must read in Indian Christian Theology.” (Prabhakar Dayam, Professor of Systematic Theology and Associate Dean of Academics, Gospel and Plough Institute of Theology, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, India)

“Raj Bharat Patta offers a profound public theology, shaped by the subaltern experience, that brings into dialogue sites of exclusion, subaltern identity, and Christian theological discourse. This is a critical book that callsfor a subaltern public theology for India but also speaks to the global context as it engages with epistemic sites of struggle, communion, and resistance – looking to theology, liturgy and pedagogy – it offers a public theology of liberation shaped by the lived experiences of the Dalits, that invites the reader to recognise the agency of subaltern communities in transforming the public sphere and unsettling the norms in public theology." (Eve Parker, Lecturer in Modern Christian Theology, University of Manchester, UK)

Raj Bharat Patta is a Minister from the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church in India, and is currently serving as a Recognized and Regarded Minister of the Methodist Church in Britain. He has a PhD from the University of Manchester.